2021-2022 US Women's Figure Skating

[elliana]

I predict that Amber will have been so horrified by this experience at Finlandia that it will light a fire and she may just have the skates of her life at Nationals. I'm not counting her out yet.

It's strange that for all of the elite level coaching the top skaters receive you'd think there'd be some way to simulate a competition somehow. Whether that's paying a crowd of strangers to come watch a run through or something!

 

[skatingiscool]

This thread is quickly becoming like the Russian women's thread where people are becoming so protective of their favorites that they purposely misread and become offended at honest assessments. I'm going to stop entering it if this continues. The lack of fanatical fans is what has made this a better thread in the past. Honest assessments of skaters strengths and weaknesses should not be taken personally.

Alysa's spins are indeed better than Amber's. I never said that weren't. But, even in practice her jumps and SS aren't. But, she is an incredible competitor and that is the most important quality she possesses. That's just a non-emotional, fair assessment of Alysa. . Let's see how see does on the GP. If she starts landing her 3A, she is 98 percent going to be national champion.

A non-emotional fair assessment of Amber is that it doesn't matter what talent you have if you can't deliver in competition. And messing up a spin in your SP, just reveals exactly what a terrible competitor you are. Which was what my original posts were about that others decided to take as insults against their favorite skaters.

A non-emotional assessment of Karen, is that she knows when to show up and deliver to her best and as long as the technical panel is blind she will do relatively well.

In the past, these type of comments were accepted here.. is this thread going to turn into a less pleasant environment full of extreme fans? I really hope not.

Calm down, girl. You sounds like very emotional now.

 

[daffygirl]

I predict that Amber will have been so horrified by this experience at Finlandia that it will light a fire and she may just have the skates of her life at Nationals. I'm not counting her out yet.

It's strange that for all of the elite level coaching the top skaters receive you'd think there'd be some way to simulate a competition somehow. Whether that's paying a crowd of strangers to come watch a run through or something!

Unless she has very strong showings at both her GP assignments as in beating Bradie at SkAm and Alysa at NHK, I don't see USFS selecting Amber for the team even if she has the skates of her life at Nationals, unless she wins. Not when there are other US ladies who have shown better competition nerves. Alysa has nerves of steel and while Karen had a messy competition at Autumn Classic, but she redeemed herself at Finlandia. Karen does know how to pull it back together. Bradie and Lindsay also have strong competition nerves. We'll have to see where Mariah is.

 

[MCsAngel2]

I predict that Amber will have been so horrified by this experience at Finlandia that it will light a fire and she may just have the skates of her life at Nationals. I'm not counting her out yet.

It's strange that for all of the elite level coaching the top skaters receive you'd think there'd be some way to simulate a competition somehow. Whether that's paying a crowd of strangers to come watch a run through or something!

I think she does much better when she's the underdog...when expectations have been lowered. Way less pressure. I've always thought that's what happened at Nationals last year. (And I also think it helped her nerves that there were no spectators last year).

 

[Lutzedge]

If we look at the US ladies as just an individual country, correct they are not weak, but unfortunately they have to compete against the rest of the world and right now in comparison to the rest of the big countries (and even some of the smaller countries) they are weak. Russia is going to leave home skaters (note that is plural) capable of triple axels and quads; in the US multiple solid candidates for the team only do 1 triple-triple in their FS.

Karen, Bradie, and Mariah have solid PCS, and usually skate consistently, but unfortunately have problems rotating (not Mariah as much, but she struggles with getting higher GOE). If they rotated most of the time, they could be scoring big scores. That is why someone like Loena will score well with nice artistry, powerful jumping, and mostly clean rotation. If Alysa can get her triple axel strong and rotate her combos, and even get her quad down, she can very well score huge, and have a bigger chance against the top competitors.

 

[skatingiscool]

I predict that Amber will have been so horrified by this experience at Finlandia that it will light a fire and she may just have the skates of her life at Nationals. I'm not counting her out yet.

It's strange that for all of the elite level coaching the top skaters receive you'd think there'd be some way to simulate a competition somehow. Whether that's paying a crowd of strangers to come watch a run through or something!

Unfortunately, USFSA already mentions clearly that body of work is an important selection criteria. Podium at Nationals won't help her to be selected on Olympics team unless she has outstanding showings@ GP (final chance for Amber). Ross Miner won Silver medal but Adam Rippon was selected for the team in 2018. Honestly, the chance for Amber to be selected on Olympics team is very slim. Politics plays a big role too. USFSA already chooses its favorites. If USFSA likes/prefers a specific skater, USFSA can "customize" the rules to help its favorites. Both Alysa and Vincent benefit from those selection guidelines set by USFSA. Alysa is put in group 2 just with ONE competition score (Lombardia). Vincent's disaster World showings won't hurt his chance for the selection process according to those guidelines.

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USFS told Philip Hersh: "Since he didn’t complete the competition, it is not included. Same as if he would have withdrawn.” So for selection purposes, only Zhou’s total scores in 2021-22 season will be considered, which means that as of now, he is in a good spot

 

[LiamForeman]

I predict that Amber will have been so horrified by this experience at Finlandia that it will light a fire and she may just have the skates of her life at Nationals. I'm not counting her out yet.

It's strange that for all of the elite level coaching the top skaters receive you'd think there'd be some way to simulate a competition somehow. Whether that's paying a crowd of strangers to come watch a run through or something!

If anything, it will force Amber to just go for broke from here on out. Always go for the 3axel in the SP and two attempts in the LP. She is never going to the Olympics unless she starts skating like a maniac. Sure she's probably going to fall on all her 3axels, but she's not going to the Olympics unless she establishes that she is a serious 3axeler, one in the SP and two in the LP. (And besides, she falls on every jump really no matter which one so why not have 2 falls from a fully rotated 3axel instead, when you think about it.) That would be my advice for her at this point. Don't show a better and slightly improved Amber Glenn. Show the monster that is Amber Glenn who is capable of huge, big-girl skating and convince us. Otherwise, stay home in Dallas and watch it on tv.

 

[Skatesocs]

What did Mariah even have before that people are now breathing a sigh of relief lol.

 

[Skatesocs]

What did Mariah even have before that people are now breathing a sigh of relief lol.

OHHHH one of them was that vogue program wasn't it.

What was the other one?

 

[Kathy1]

What did Mariah even have before that people are now breathing a sigh of relief lol.

Just speaking for myself, I believe that the Lady Gaga and ABBA programs Adam Rippon created for Mariah would have better suited Adam's skating (or the skating of Mariah's life partner, Romain Ponsart). "Hallelujah" emphasizes her own unique qualities. However, I would prefer an SP to Chicago or Requiem for a Dream compared to this river flowing nonsense.

 

[Skatesocs]

Just speaking for myself, I believe that the Lady Gaga and ABBA programs Adam Rippon created for Mariah would have better suited Adam's skating (or the skating of Mariah's life partner, Romain Ponsart).

The Lady Gaga Program was choreographed by Denali/Cordero Zuckerman. I don't think Rippon could have done the authentic voguing in it either

 

[Amei]

What did Mariah even have before that people are now breathing a sigh of relief lol.

Please see these for why everyone is grateful for the change (rumored or confirmed?)

 

[Skatesocs]

Please see these for why everyone is grateful for the change (rumored or confirmed?)

Totally understand the SP being dropped - but what was the problem with the LP compared to Hallelujah? Personally, I thought Hallelujah with the emotional mismatch wasn't so great either (the 2018-19 LP was better).

 

[skatingiscool]

Totally understand the SP being dropped - but what was the problem with the LP compared to Hallelujah? Personally, I thought Hallelujah with the emotional mismatch wasn't so great either (the 2018-19 LP was better).

Mariah switches her SP to "River flows in you" and LP back to Hallelujah according to Champs camp insider. Nathan also switches his SP back to Nemesis based on the same source. So far, that Champs camp insider is accurate about Jason Brown programs.

Here is SP and LP for Bradie this season:

Bradie Tennell on her programs this season: “My short program is a modern tango, I think when people see it they'll be very surprised. My long program is very heartfelt.. It's a piece of music that I've wanted to skate to for a long time.”
Regarding her injury: “I had to limit my jumping for a while but that's just something else I had to work through. The different challenges I faced this summer, I feel helped me grow as an athlete.”
On training the triple axel: “It was something I was looking forward to working on this summer– then with the boot issues, I wasn't able to.”

 

[Dawn825]

I like the idea of Bradie doing a Tango, I think its a good match for her style.

 

[moonvine]

Totally understand the SP being dropped - but what was the problem with the LP compared to Hallelujah? Personally, I thought Hallelujah with the emotional mismatch wasn't so great either (the 2018-19 LP was better).

The long is pretty universally hated.

 

[mrrice]

I predict that Amber will have been so horrified by this experience at Finlandia that it will light a fire and she may just have the skates of her life at Nationals. I'm not counting her out yet.

It's strange that for all of the elite level coaching the top skaters receive you'd think there'd be some way to simulate a competition somehow. Whether that's paying a crowd of strangers to come watch a run through or something!

Well, IMO, unless Alysa, Lindsay, and Bradie have meltdowns, it won't matter how well Amber skates at Nationals. I believe she has another GP but, there are just too many skaters, including Karen Chen who just defeated her at Finlandia, that would have to bomb for her to make the team. This was a huge opportunity for her and she missed it.

 

[yelyoh]

Well, IMO, unless Alysa, Lindsay, and Bradie have meltdowns, it won't matter how well Amber skates at Nationals. I believe she has another GP but, there are just too many skaters, including Karen Chen who just defeated her at Finlandia, that would have to bomb for her to make the team. This was a huge opportunity for her and she missed it.

Again Lindsay is far from a guarantee. Mariah and Karen will get somewhat higher PCS which will offset whatever edge LT has in tech. I agree about the first two though. La ice is slippery however as are judges scores.

 

[mrrice]

Again Lindsay is far from a guarantee. Mariah and Karen will get somewhat higher PCS which will offset whatever edge LT has in tech. I agree about the first two though. La ice is slippery however as are judges scores.

I tell you what. Lindsay has really impressed me this season. When she skates clean, I think she is the closest skater to Alysa, who I think is a lock to win at Nationals. Like Alysa, Lindsay hasn't had a single bad outing this season. With the exception of Amber's 3A ( If she hits it ) Lindsay has more difficult programs in terms of jumps. In spins, there is no comparison.

 

[daffygirl]

I tell you what. Lindsay has really impressed me this season. When she skates clean, I think she is the closest skater to Alysa, who I think is a lock to win at Nationals. Like Alysa, Lindsay hasn't had a single bad outing this season. With the exception of Amber's 3A ( If she hits it ) Lindsay has more difficult programs in terms of jumps. In spins, there is no comparison.

Lindsay did actually try a 3A at her second JGP. It was downgraded but she stood up on it.