US Olympic Team Announced

[drivingmissdaisy]

Also, jumping off and not directed at you, I do get frustrated when I see terms directed to Jason like, perennial loser, waste of space, never competitive, washed up, held up by USFS (that in particular, is just, wow, Jason has never been a favorite of USFS) in addition to the discussion of the criteria.

I can't tell if you're being serious about the bolded part. What is that based on? Jason has previously gotten assignments (i.e. 2017 Worlds) that required the USFSA to look past Nationals results and is regularly scored 20 points higher at Nationals than for similar skates elsewhere.

 

[el henry]

Even with my inclinations for a trails-type event, I'm generally OK with naming K/F and Alysa to the team. It would seem excessively harsh to penalize them for catching COVID at the actual event. This should be viewed as an exception, not the rule. I'm not sure if my comfort level with these selections would be the same if a top rival had risen and shown exceptional performance and promise, and their selection could have upset the applecart. For example, if Jessica and Brian had skated a lights-out free program to reinforce the excellent short program and finished second... what would I support? The answer is, "I don't know."

Ashley and Tim were spectacular, by far the best I've ever seen from them. In fact the very best competitive SP + FP I've seen from an American pair in a decade or more. They are deserving winners. How they identify or with whom they sleep (or their ethnicity, the breed of dog they own, their off-ice hobbies, their favorite color, etc...) holds no interest for me - I'm equally disinterested in this stuff about all skaters. It's irrelevant to how I view skating. "Up Close and Personal"... no, thank you.

Isabeau was scored well and fairly. There is so much to like about this young skater, but the differential in speed and power was evident when compared to the older ladies. Time will take care of that.

Thank you, my friend, let's start talking about the whole team again (and I acknowledge my own part in this).

I agree about Alexa and Brandon. Testing positive is not under the control of any skater who have taken all the precautions, and they had the best season of any US pair. Jessica and Brian did make the selection easier, which is not good for them, but good for Ashley and Tim.

Ashley and Tim shone with confidence and I was there for it. I think their pairs skating of "two equals" is very compelling.

Timothy's identity is important for others who may identify the same way. I have already seen comments from young non-binary skaters on how important for them seeing Timothy on the Olympic team was. It is not for me to say what is important to them, so I happy they are encouraged by the representation (also, I always loved "Up Close and Personal, the ABC Way", so there is that. )

Levito is not age eligible, so that was kind of a red herring. She is one of the only junior ladies I've watched skate all the way through, so there is that.

 

[el henry]

I can't tell if you're being serious about the bolded part. What is that based on? Jason has previously gotten assignments (i.e. 2017 Worlds) that required the USFSA to look past Nationals results and is regularly scored 20 points higher at Nationals than for similar skates elsewhere.

I am quite serious. Jason has not gotten any more home cooking than other US skaters, and I would argue in this Nats he got less.

20 points? Could you please point out a skate where Jason skated similarly (ETA: Jumps, spins, other "technical" elements equal) internationally and domestically where there was a 20 point difference?

 

[TontoK]

Thank you, my friend, let's start talking about the whole team again (and I acknowledge my own part in this).

I agree about Alexa and Brandon. Testing positive is not under the control of any skater who have taken all the precautions, and they had the best season of any US pair. Jessica and Brian did make the selection easier, which is not good for them, but good for Ashley and Tim.

Ashley and Tim shone with confidence and I was there for it. I think their pairs skating of "two equals" is very compelling.

Timothy's identity is important for others who may identify the same way. I have already seen comments from young non-binary skaters on how important for them seeing Timothy on the Olympic team was. It is not for me to say what is important to them, so I happy they are encouraged by the representation (also, I always loved "Up Close and Personal, the ABC Way", so there is that. )

Levito is not age eligible, so that was kind of a red herring. She is one of the only junior ladies I've watched skate all the way through, so there is that.

Exactly. No age-eligible skater performed in such a way that I could righteously object to the COVID selections.

This does make me nervous for future events. In my own personal and professional circles, the new strain is rampant, although none of their symptoms are severe - simply testing positive (symptoms or not) is enough to derail athlete dreams.

 

[el henry]

Exactly. No age-eligible skater performed in such a way that I could righteously object to the COVID selections.

This does make me nervous for future events. In my own personal and professional circles, the new strain is rampant, although none of their symptoms are severe - simply testing positive (symptoms or not) is enough to derail athlete dreams.

This is the next step:

Making certain, as best we can, that we keep all the Olympic Team (Olympians in general for that matter) in a place where they can actually compete. It is a nerve-racking time.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

I am quite serious. Jason has not gotten any more home cooking than other US skaters, and I would argue in this Nats he got less.

Really? He got 10's in PCS for a program with a fall.

 

[Skater Boy]

Exactly. No age-eligible skater performed in such a way that I could righteously object to the COVID selections.

This does make me nervous for future events. In my own personal and professional circles, the new strain is rampant, although none of their symptoms are severe - simply testing positive (symptoms or not) is enough to derail athlete dreams.

Covid can be a life changer and undoubtedly out of the four disciplines one is bound to sadly lose a top notch competitior/medal favourite. It is unfortunate that Jessica and Brian missed on two world chances that were theirs and then this. Life sucks.

 

[el henry]

Really? He got 10's in PCS for a program with a fall.

I didn't say there was no home cooking. ETA: I agree US Nats serves up the home cooking. What I meant was that everyone else got equal home cooking at this event, and that Jason is not favored by USFS in that regard. I stand by that.

I am also not aware of any apples to apples comparison in international to domestic programs where Jason scored 20 points less in the international program. But I sure don't remember them all.

 

[TontoK]

Covid can be a life changer and undoubtedly out of the four disciplines one is bound to sadly lose a top notch competitior/medal favourite. It is unfortunate that Jessica and Brian missed on two world chances that were theirs and then this. Life sucks.

This is my fear.

And God forbid, if something goes wrong in, say Montreal, with so many high level skaters co-located... well, you and I may have to skate in the Olympics, as we'll be about all that's left. I hope your Blues pattern is up to snuff.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Well, Jason said he received the confirmation email when he was at doping, right after the awards... Maybe it took a good 30 minutes after the last score, I don't know...

Maybe the discussion wasn't about Jason then.

Maybe it was about Vincent vs Ilia. A lot of posters have mentioned it was BS that his 2021 disaster at World's was counted as WD rather than Did not Make the Final. Perhaps the panel had people arguing that it should be...which certainly would explain the length of time it took.

Yay, the Vincent-detractors have more ammo, because clearly he deserved to finish last after that atrocious FS and should be bundled out of the sport.

 

[Mathman]

With brespect to history, I think that the ladies' selection in 2014 is the most telling. I am fuzzy on the details now, but some time before the 2010 Olympics there was a reorganization of the leadership of the USFSA, As I recall (?) they hired some business types and lawyers to augmernt their staff of largely volunteer skating enthusiasts. There was a new scrutiny of marketting the sport by winning as many Olympic medals as possible. One cautionary note came to light from the legal side, that you can't use the National Championships as the Olympic Qualifying Event because if you did the USOC would be officially in charge rather than the USFSA.

This was when various rules were adopted to guide the Selection Committee. No one paid any attention to these procedural changes and fans pretty much blew them off. One, two and three at Nationals would go to the Olympics except in extraordinary circumstances.

They were the three best; what's the problem?

But in 2014 there really was a choice to be made. The USFSA warned us and warned us that the old rule was out and new rules were in place, but we didn't believe it. However, that year the USFSA showed us who was boss. They chose Wagner (body of work, 4th at Nationals), Edmunds (ormising newcomer -- the future of the sport and 2nd at Nationals), and Gracie Gold -=- U.S. Championon and "now" girl to Ashley's "then" and Polina's "later." (By the way, the men's silver medalist, winner of the long program, was also selected for the team -- Jason Brown. All this was justified, quite correctly, by the official selection criteria. The reason there was a howl when Mirai was passed over is that we fans thought that all these rules were just busywork -- of course they would send 1,2, and 3 as they always did.

 

[Tavi...]

But not Malanin. Either in the SP or the LP, and Ilya doesn't even have the World minimum for the SP!!!

That’s not really something to brag about. He had the opportunity to get that SP last fall and failed spectacularly.

 

[Mauvedreamer]

I am so over Jason. He has had eight years to up his technical content and has failed to do so. His novice/junior jump content just doesn't cut it anymore.

As for his "artistry," I haven't seen any growth in four years, and he still skates to the same stale old David Wilson programs.

Next.

.

 

[skylark]

Ashley and Tim shone with confidence and I was there for it. I think their pairs skating of "two equals" is very compelling.

@TontoK said:

Ashley and Tim were spectacular, by far the best I've ever seen from them. In fact the very best competitive SP + FP I've seen from an American pair in a decade or more. They are deserving winners.

I was going to say I was Unabashedly Off Topic, but then I re-glanced at the thread title, and I'm not!

 

[el henry]

.

As I responded originally to this post, I am so over pretending that jumps are the only athletic factor in figure skating. I am so over ignoring every difficult athletic move that Jason does.

Kurt Browning called Jason "a skater's skater" and commented (paraphasing) "You need to be a skater to know just how difficult Jason Brown's programs are".

I'm not over Kurt Browning, are you? Next.

 

[EyesOfLove]

Because others, not you, have given no indication that they have seen any comp other than Nats, and one poster pretty much admitted it was only Nats.

It was not my intention, and I do not believe I said, that all persons advocating for Ilia had never seen him skate before.

I may be that "one poster" you are referring to here. Not trying to add fuel to the fire already burning so bright, but I am curious what you are insinuating here? -- because I personally do not think having a longer history of watching a skater automatically imparts some seal of objectivity to that person's value judgment about that skater, any more than having watched figure skating for longer years than other fans confer incontrovertible authority on that person's argument about "the state of the sport today." I haven't said anything remotely close to discrediting Brown's eligibility as an Olympian over and against Malinin, so it's rather dumbfounding to be called out as if I am guilty of unwarranted libel borne of ignorance.

 

[el henry]

I was going to say I was Unabashedly Off Topic, but then I re-glanced at the thread title, and I'm not!

No, we are not.

Of course I've always loved Ashley and Tim's lines, but the way they came together in this comp. (And currently, the way USFS is supporting Timothy) Superb!

 

[el henry]

I may be that "one poster" you are referring to here. Not trying to add fuel to the fire already burning so bright, but I am curious what you are insinuating here? -- because I personally do not think having a longer history of watching a skater automatically imparts some seal of objectivity to that person's value judgment about that skater, any more than having watched figure skating for longer years than other fans confer incontrovertible authority on that person's argument about "the state of the sport today." I haven't said anything remotely close to discrediting Brown's eligibility as an Olympian over and against Malinin, so it's rather dumbfounding to be called out as if I am guilty of unwarranted libel borne of ignorance.

No you are not, and I apologize if you thought that. I am generally one who likes to quote and engage rather than refer obliquely. If I thought that about you, I would have quoted you and said so.

I do not want to give the person who said what they said any more traction, frankly, but they're easy to find if you go a few pages back.

I do not think history necessarily confers any authority. I raised those points about my own history because I felt discredited (so I know how it feels ) as making the arguments I did because I wanted to stand in the way of youth, of progress, of sport, etc.

I believe we should be able to disagree civilly without making those allusions.

 

[EyesOfLove]

No you are not, and I apologize if you thought that. I am generally one who likes to quote and engage rather than refer obliquely. If I thought that about you, I would have quoted you and said so.

I do not want to give the person who said what they said any more traction, frankly, but they're easy to find if you go a few pages back.

I do not think history necessarily confers any authority. I raised those points about my own history because I felt discredited (so I know how it feels ) as making the arguments I did because I wanted to stand in the way of youth, of progress, of sport, etc.

I believe we should be able to disagree civilly without making those allusions.

Okay. I also apologize for the misunderstanding and the melodramatic & passive-aggressive rant (uh.. how embarrassing). It seems as if I got too emotional.

 

[soccerjc77]

Even japanese federation try new skater by including Mana Kawabe in the olympic team over the sentimental one Mai Mihara.

Why USFS did not send the skater Ilia Who skating with such joy and have better smooth landing on his 6 quad than Zhou and Chen.

Jason is a sentimental choice and a poor choice compare to this amazing young men Ilia.