Why wasn't Malinin selected for the Olympics?

[iceskating21]

Men's 2022 U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team Nominated

Ilia was the 2nd place with so clean quad. Why did USFSA choose Jason? He is the 4th place, right? Who knows the reason?

 

[moonvine]

You’ll find us all discussing this very thing under “US Figure Skating Team Announced.”

 

[ladyjane]

Sigh. US Nationals is a competition on its own merit, it's good to place well. However, there were (published in september I think) criteria for the Olympic Choice, and those were followed. To the letter. Disagree with the criteria if you must (and there's other threads openly discussing all this), but they were known beforehand. Nobody mentioned having a quad in there, just the placements in certain competitions. Jason had those, I watched those competitions. We all know the reason. Some might not agree, just like you presumably. That's all. More discussion? Go into the 'US Olympic team announced' thread, just as @moonvine suggested. You can discuss to your heart's content.

 

[luvsasha]

Ilia was not chosen because of the criteria that others mentioned. Also, Nationals is not really an official "Olympic Trials."

 

[Carolla5501]

So people on boards like this would have something to rant and rave about for a few weeks before the Olympics?

 

[moonvine]

So people on boards like this would have something to rant and rave about for a few weeks before the Olympics?

Oh no. People will still be ranting and raving about this at least four years from now.

 

[Amei]

The US has drifted away from Nationals being the deciding factor for who goes to the Olympics, and let's be honest - its a layer of protection for their favorites under-performing at Nationals because they can trot out the BOW to put them on the team. The only worse decision that the Fed could have done to detract the casual viewers from watching figure skating more than once or twice every 4 years might've been to put figures on TV - casual fans (and even hardcore fans that are aware of the stupid BOW option) see Malinin do these 2 incredible programs executing multiple quad jumps cleanly and scoring over 300 points but then is passed over for the prestigious Olympic team for 2 guys he beat by double-digits.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Disagree with the criteria if you must (and there's other threads openly discussing all this), but they were known beforehand.

Well, not really. The JGP season already started before the criteria were released.

 

[el henry]

Oh no. People will still be ranting and raving about this at least four years from now.

Well, Jason v. Vincent has died down somewhat, so something needed to take its place. Here is my handy dandy guide for posting whenever Jason is chosen for any comp over any other skater:

I can't believe USFS selected Jason Brown over Skater X for Competition Y. Skater X is the future of skating. He jumps quads with the greatest of ease. He can leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Brown is a hack who has done nothing in the past <insert number> years. Every medal he has won was a fluke. I don't see artistry so of course if I don't see, he doesn't have it. Jumping quads is the very future of our sport and the key to millions/thousands/whatever of people watching! Brown is useless if he can't jump quads. We don't live in the 1990s/2000s/1950s. Wake up and smell the rinkside coffee.

I have read variations of this post many times, and I am sure I will read it many times more. I give free license for anyone to use this one if they don't feel like writing their own.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Well, Jason v. Vincent has died down somewhat, so something needed to take its place. Here is my handy dandy guide for posting whenever Jason is chosen for any comp over any other skater:

I can't believe USFS selected Jason Brown over Skater X for Competition Y. Skater X is the future of skating. He jumps quads with the greatest of ease. He can leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Brown is a hack who has done nothing in the past <insert number> years. Every medal he has won was a fluke. I don't see artistry so of course if I don't see, he doesn't have it. Jumping quads is the very future of our sport and the key to millions/thousands/whatever of people watching! Brown is useless if he can't jump quads. We don't live in the 1990s/2000s/1950s. Wake up and smell the rinkside coffee.

I have read variations of this post many times, and I am sure I will read it many times more. I give free license for anyone to use this one if they don't feel like writing their own.

Jeremy Abbott fans had to deal with people stating this same exact crap to them for years, now Jason has the same being said. It's ridiculous.

 

[moonvine]

Well, Jason v. Vincent has died down somewhat, so something needed to take its place. Here is my handy dandy guide for posting whenever Jason is chosen for any comp over any other skater:

I can't believe USFS selected Jason Brown over Skater X for Competition Y. Skater X is the future of skating. He jumps quads with the greatest of ease. He can leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Brown is a hack who has done nothing in the past <insert number> years. Every medal he has won was a fluke. I don't see artistry so of course if I don't see, he doesn't have it. Jumping quads is the very future of our sport and the key to millions/thousands/whatever of people watching! Brown is useless if he can't jump quads. We don't live in the 1990s/2000s/1950s. Wake up and smell the rinkside coffee.

I have read variations of this post many times, and I am sure I will read it many times more. I give free license for anyone to use this one if they don't feel like writing their own.

Man. Will you write me one for Gracie? You’re very talented

 

[Skater Boy]

Well to answer the question of Why choosing Jason over Ilya you just need to look at the USFA criteria which tries to make this objective but we know it isn't lol. Body of work, tiering, trajectory - Nationals is just one thing to look at. This is different than the randomness in the past. Ie. in Canada Roman Sadovsky coach was a teenage sensation and placed third at her nationals with only one spot open. She was the future and got to go to the 1980 world championships though two other ladies placed a head of her.

 

[Imagine]

Finally, the U.S. has someone who can give Valieva a run for her money...but unfortunately he appeared in the wrong discipline.

 

[TontoK]

You’ll find us all discussing this very thing under “US Figure Skating Team Announced.”

Yep @iceskating21 please visit that thread for indepth debate and analysis.

The short answer is that selection criteria were used to name the team. The debate is whether the criteria was fair, whether it was interpretted correctly, and whether it will be used in future years.

Contributers from all points of view engaged in spirited and (mostly) respectful debate on that thread, and I don't think anything new will surface now. Visit that thread and chime in.

 

[Anna K.]

Not sure if this is the right thread to ask, but have Ilia's coaching team made any statements about it? What was their plan for him this season? No athlete can be in top form all the time. An extra competition, like Olympic games, makes a big difference. Were Ilia's coaches disappointed that he wasn't sent to Olympics or were they fine with it because they didn't plan it anyway?

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

Not sure if this is the right thread to ask, but have Ilia's coaching team made any statements about it? What was their plan for him this season? No athlete can be in top form all the time. An extra competition, like Olympic games, makes a big difference. Were Ilia's coaches disappointed that he wasn't sent to Olympics or were they fine with it because they didn't plan it anyway?

If Ilia’s coaches are surprised that he was not chosen then it is their own fault for not understanding the criteria that was published months ago and working to ensure he was entered in the events that would place him ahead of Brown.

This all started when he didnt compete at Nationals in 2021. He should have competed there, defeated Brown, gone to 2021 Worlds, scored well enough to earn Senior Grand Prix this season instead of Junior, gone to Senior Grand Prix and beaten Brown again, and qualified for the Senior GPF. If he is sooooo competitive and amazing then he easily could have done this.

Or at the very least he could have won the Austria cup and demonstrated that he can do all of these quads in international competition as well as domestic. Instead he bombed and lost to the guy that came in 11th place at Japan Nationals.

So now it looks like Nationals is a one hit wonder and/or he is a skater that delivers domestically but not internationally. Neither is a convincing argument for the Olympics, especially for the athlete that will be relied on to skate the free in the team event.

 

[bekalc]

Not sure if this is the right thread to ask, but have Ilia's coaching team made any statements about it? What was their plan for him this season? No athlete can be in top form all the time. An extra competition, like Olympic games, makes a big difference. Were Ilia's coaches disappointed that he wasn't sent to Olympics or were they fine with it because they didn't plan it anyway?

Raf apparently screamed bloody murder to the Russian press should do it with Phil Hersh

 

[bekalc]

If Ilia’s coaches are surprised that he was not chosen then it is their own fault for not understanding the criteria that was published months ago and working to ensure he was entered in the events that would place him ahead of Brown.

This all started when he didnt compete at Nationals in 2021. He should have competed there, defeated Brown, gone to 2021 Worlds, scored well enough to earn Senior Grand Prix this season instead of Junior, gone to Senior Grand Prix and beaten Brown again, and qualified for the Senior GPF. If he is sooooo competitive and amazing then he easily could have done this.

Or at the very least he could have won the Austria cup and demonstrated that he can do all of these quads in international competition as well as domestic. Instead he bombed and lost to the guy that came in 11th place at Japan Nationals.

So now it looks like Nationals is a one hit wonder and/or he is a skater that delivers domestically but not internationally. Neither is a convincing argument for the Olympics, especially for the athlete that will be relied on to skate the free in the team event.

He was the top qualifier for the junior GP he is allowed one bad skate
.

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

He was the top qualifier for the junior GP he is allowed one bad skate
.

Junior success doesn’t translate to senior. He also did watered down content at those events to ensure he placed well. He attempted 4T and 4S; only 4S was successful at both events. The entire argument for sending him to the Olympics hinges on his 4Lz differentiating him from most of the pack, yet he didn’t show it at these events. When he finally tried it at Austria he was successful but could not manage the rest of his program.

Really nothing he has done this season has shown he can be competitive internationally with the top senior men. The entire argument is this one great skate at nationals and we are supposed to trust this will all work out in the team event. When the last event he bombed the short program so bad he couldn’t even get minimums for WC and had multiple < in his free.

It is not “preference for Brown”, it is his consistent scoring and not wanting to gamble with the team medal when Chen has already said he isn’t skating both events.

 

[bekalc]

Junior success doesn’t translate to senior. He also did watered down content at those events to ensure he placed well. He attempted 4T and 4S; only 4S was successful at both events. The entire argument for sending him to the Olympics hinges on his 4Lz differentiating him from most of the pack, yet he didn’t show it at these events. When he finally tried it at Austria he was successful but could not manage the rest of his program.

Really nothing he has done this season has shown he can be competitive internationally with the top senior men. The entire argument is this one great skate at nationals and we are supposed to trust this will all work out in the team event. When the last event he bombed the short program so bad he couldn’t even get minimums for WC and had multiple < in his free.

It is not “preference for Brown”, it is his consistent scoring and not wanting to gamble with the team medal when Chen has already said he isn’t skating both events.

I am sorry Browns entire career shows he is not competitive with the top men. Competitive with the top men indicates fighting for world and Olympic medals heck at least winning a GPF medal or senior GP title. We have eight years of data.

Nothing in Ilias career indicates he could compete with the top men? Really?

He landed six quads here. Six. They weren’t poorly done questionable quads. They were well done and looked easy for him.

Do you know how many men have done that feat like ever?


He is 17 his career is just starting but if landing six well down quads at nationals something brown has never done once. So he had a shacky short at a senior b early in the season. He bounced by winning his junior GP and killing nationals.

Once again we are not taking about displacing Nathan. I wouldn’t displace Zhao.

We are taking about displacing a skater who has had eight years to show they compete with the top guns for world and Olympic medals.

At some point you have to make way for young talent. We had nothing to lose by doing this other than a top 7-10 finish at the Olympics.

Once again if this was two spots I would name Nathan and Zhao due to body of work and the fact that they are proven medals threats.