There’s a few other skaters who have their Worlds minimums that placed higher than Nam at nationals. I guess we will see how they do at Jr Worlds. I think they will keep Roman, they probably don’t want any more drama and keeping 2 spots isn’t as important this year. Although with covid we have seen how not keeping the spots can mess up later years.
I love Roman, he has so much potential but something just isn’t working. Maybe he needs a coach that better understands men’s quads? I don’t know. I wish Canadian skaters weren’t so afraid of leaving their coaches to go to one’s with more high level experience. Lambiel did wonders for Shoma’s consistency, he could use a coach like that. Poor guy. I hope he doesn’t take this Olympic experience too hard, it’s not his fault he was thrown into the team skate with no preparation.
From what I recall, Wesley, Joseph and Corey do not have their TES SP minimum for Worlds (which is 34, six points higher than the TES SP minimum for the Olympics and 4CC), so Nam is next in line, and the only other candidate is Conrad. (There's also Nic, but he has retired from singles.) I really don't know what SC will do---Roman clearly cannot handle the pressure of a big competition, but Nam's entire season has been bad, and in the past, he has failed to qualify for the free skate at Worlds twice, while Conrad is untested at a big event like Worlds, and he had a disastrous SP at Nationals where he scored 59.13, which is even
lower than Roman's 62.77 at the Olympics (and Nationals results are usually a bit inflated). So whoever SC chooses as the second man for Worlds, they may not qualify for the free skate.
I 100% agree with you that there's something is terribly wrong with how Roman prepares for a competition, and that drastic changes are needed. However, he seems extremely loyal to Tracey (I even saw the fluff piece with him and her last night on the CBC TV broadcast), so it appears highly unlikely that he'll switch coaches, unfortunately. I remember that Roman was briefly with Brian Orser when he was a junior-level skater, but he ended up going back to Tracey.
To me, the issue is mental preparation altogether but it is not about the team event or not. It's just Roman. He lacks confidence. He seems scared on the ice. It's been like this for quite a while. When he is on, he is awesome, and that's why we all give him so much love. However, there are tons of other guys who are waiting on the sidelines for the same opportunities and Skate Canada needs to field the ones who can handle the pressure. There are some candidates. Wesley for instance might be one of these guys who thrive under pressure.
Yeah, it definitely looked like he was totally lost on the competitive ice and had zero confidence. I'm very familiar with Roman's doe-eyed "deer caught in the headlights" expression, and it was present throughout his Olympic performances. SC must be so pissed at him. I can easily imagine that if Roman remains wildly inconsistent throughout the next quadrennial, but somehow manages to become the national champion in 2026, SC would refuse to send him to the Olympics, just like they refused to assign him to the 2020 Worlds.
If Roman cannot improve his mental toughness soon, then obviously the younger guys will overtake him quickly. It could occur as early as next season.