Controversial Team Selections

[blue dog]

Just extending off the Controversial Olympic thread--I was wondering which team selections y'all felt was controversial. There are many decisions made by national federations that we can all debate, so feel free to bring those forward.

However, I am aware that any time we examine anything in skating, we all become passionate--please, be as passionate as you like, but be diplomatic, as well.

I'll start-- although he went on to win Olympic silver, at the time, I felt that Mark Mitchell was the more obvious choice to go to the Olympics. Of course, Paul Wylie proved me and others who felt the same way wrong...

 

[Tinymavy15]

Just extending off the Controversial Olympic thread--I was wondering which team selections y'all felt was controversial. There are many decisions made by national federations that we can all debate, so feel free to bring those forward.

However, I am aware that any time we examine anything in skating, we all become passionate--please, be as passionate as you like, but be diplomatic, as well.

I'll start-- although he went on to win Olympic silver, at the time, I felt that Mark Mitchell was the more obvious choice to go to the Olympics. Of course, Paul Wylie proved me and others who felt the same way wrong...

well of course i can't remember that far back, but I have to say that the USFSA's decision to send Kimmie to worlds this year was rather controversial.

 

[Kypma]

Although I don't know enough to have my own opinion on the matter, I believe that Japan's choice to send Miki Ando to the Olympics even though she'd finished 6th at Nationals was a rather controversial decision. I think it was Yoshie Onda who "wuzrobbed", as people say.

Kypma

 

[mizu_iro]

Although I don't know enough to have my own opinion on the matter, I believe that Japan's choice to send Miki Ando to the Olympics even though she'd finished 6th at Nationals was a rather controversial decision. I think it was Yoshie Onda who "wuzrobbed", as people say.

Kypma

I think the audience that night felt that Yukari Nakano was wuzrobbed - she reeled off an essentially clean performance but was dinged on downgrades and placed 5th (sound familiar?) That plus the fact that she had placed higher at both NHK and the Grand Prix Final that year compared to Miki made the decision not to send her to the Olympics a bit suspect. Yoshie also had a great, clean performance at nationals and placed 4th behind Suguri, Asada and Arakawa, but her GP results were nowhere near as impressive at Yukari's. The JSF explained how they came up with the decisions by factoring in results starting from the previous season and such, but I thought the way that the National placements worked out seemed a bit too perfect.

 

[Ptichka]

For some ancient history now. In 1972, USSR left the Protopopovs off the Olympic team . The reason, of course, was that there was already a deal made with GDR that USSR would support Groß/ Kagelmann in pairs in exchange for GDR supporting Chetverukhin in men. Both Rodnina & Ulanov and Smirnova & Suraikin were younger teams, and it was felt that they both must go. However, if the Protopopovs went but did not medal, it would really cause an outrage - thus they were left off the team. This was really the first major step in their disillusionment and eventual defection.

 

[Wrlmy]

Kiira Korpi making Olympic team over Alissa Drei.
Kiira Korpi making world team in 2007 over Laura Lepisto.
I know Finnish federation factors in Euro and GP results, but I feel there is favorism going on.

 

[screech]

Emanuel Sandhu 1998 - he came 2nd at Canadians but Skate Canada decided not to send him because of his 'surprise' senior debut and 'lack of experience'. A lot of people think that decision may have contributed to his subsequent head-casedness.

 

[Tonichelle]

Kimmie had more international experience... USFSA doesn't have to send the top three if they don't want to...

Nationals was a disaster, she rebounded - IMHO - for Worlds...

 

[lerei]

I saw Meissner's Long Program at Nationals and it was a DISASTER. How did Kimmie Meissner get to go to World's over Katrina Hacker? Katrina skated better than her and beat her but Kimmie still got to instead. That's unfair

Quite a few reasons.
Yes it was true Hacker outskated Meissner on that particular night but we are talking about a skater who didn't even make it past Eastern Sectionals the year before. Plus Hacker had only competed at one international event prior to nationals, compared to the other girls who were sent to worlds and even the underage ones on the podium. She showed good consitency in the limited time we saw her but she is extremely prone to meltdowns. Still, I hope she can improve her jumps. She's a beautiful skater.

 

[Buttercup]

I wouldn't call it particularly controversial, but I felt really sorry for Valentina Marchei when Sylvia Fontana decided to come back for Torino 2006 and did well enough that Valentina was left off the team. It must have been an awful disappointment for her to miss out on the Olympics in her own country.

 

[Jaana]

well of course i can't remember that far back, but I have to say that the USFSA's decision to send Kimmie to worlds this year was rather controversial.

It would have been controversial if some skaters in question had been according the rules old enough to skate at Worlds, I think. Hacker on the other hand was old enough, but there was so little difference in the scores, that I can understand that Meissner got sent.

 

[demarinis5]

Michelle Kwan making the team instead of Emily (personally I thought it was the right decision) but it was pretty controversial.

 

[Sandra_persch]

The German Olympic committee not allowing the Beiers and Annette Dytrt to go to the 2006 Olympics. Beiers "only" placed 13 at Euros and the NOK had requested 12th and Annette "only" placing 10th at Euros when the NOK wanted to see a 8th place finish.

 

[attyfan]

Michelle Kwan making the team instead of Emily (personally I thought it was the right decision) but it was pretty controversial.

ITA! There was also a certain amount of controversy about leaving Michelle off of the '94 Oly team -- after the police began investigating Tonya, a lot of people thought that it was simply wrong to let Harding go and they didn't like the "legal technicalities" that prevented the USFS from dumping her.

 

[gkelly]

Emanuel Sandhu 1998 - he came 2nd at Canadians but Skate Canada decided not to send him because of his 'surprise' senior debut and 'lack of experience'.

My understanding was that it wasn't Skate Canada's (CFSA's) decision not to send him, but the Canadian Olympic Committee's. They (COC) had determined qualifying criteria with each Olympic sport and because Sandhu hadn't done any previous senior competitions nationally or internationally he hadn't had a chance to meet those criteria. I thought that Skate Canada actually tried to get them to relax the international criteria to let them send the second-place finisher at nationals since he had beaten the third-place finisher who had met the criteria, but the COC declined to do so. Which made sense from their point of view because then federations from all other sports would also start asking for exceptions. It was just a lesson that if criteria based on more than that year's national results must be set, they should be more flexible to take into account breakthrough debuts.

 

[fumie_fumie]

My understanding was that it wasn't Skate Canada's (CFSA's) decision not to send him, but the Canadian Olympic Committee's. They (COC) had determined qualifying criteria with each Olympic sport and because Sandhu hadn't done any previous senior competitions nationally or internationally he hadn't had a chance to meet those criteria. I thought that Skate Canada actually tried to get them to relax the international criteria to let them send the second-place finisher at nationals since he had beaten the third-place finisher who had met the criteria, but the COC declined to do so. Which made sense from their point of view because then federations from all other sports would also start asking for exceptions. It was just a lesson that if criteria based on more than that year's national results must be set, they should be more flexible to take into account breakthrough debuts.

What a waste of talent. Back then, he was relatively well-trained and oblivious to all the ghosts lurking around the hotels and his father didn't know that he was an elite figure skater. To boot, his 4toe-3axel were fairly decent.

 

[tae04]

Not giving reigning National Champion and World Bronze Medalist Nicole Bobek a bye to 1996 Worlds over Tara Lipinski was quite controversial. That one decision could have changed everything that happened in 1997/1998.

Obviously it did Tara a world of favor as she surprising won 97 Worlds/98 Olympics over the next 2 yrs. Tara narrowly qualified for the LP in 1996, I think had she finished 1 spot lower she would have missed the cut after the SPs.

 

[hockeyfan228]

Not giving reigning National Champion and World Bronze Medalist Nicole Bobek a bye to 1996 Worlds over Tara Lipinski was quite controversial. That one decision could have changed everything that happened in 1997/1998.

Obviously it did Tara a world of favor as she surprising won 97 Worlds/98 Olympics over the next 2 yrs. Tara narrowly qualified for the LP in 1996, I think had she finished 1 spot lower she would have missed the cut after the SPs.

Lipinski would have needed to finish two spots lower (she was 23rd), but she made such an impression with a top 10 finish in the LP -- think of how many flights that score held up over, and how much higher her scores would have been had she skated later and was in contention, at least for the top 10. I think that was what set her up for the 1996-7 World Championships, which definitely put her on target for Nagano.

Had 1997 been her first World Championships, even having beaten a faulty Kwan at Nationals, I doubt she would have been "in control of her destiny" regardless of how she skated, and we'd be arguing about why Kwan was ahead of her after the SP

 

[Jaana]

Not giving reigning National Champion and World Bronze Medalist Nicole Bobek a bye to 1996 Worlds over Tara Lipinski was quite controversial. That one decision could have changed everything that happened in 1997/1998.

I don´t think the decision was controversial, as far as I remember, Bobek herself caused it. Didn´t she get injured during some tour she was not supposed to participate in, or something like that?

 

[Mathman]

I don´t think the decision was controversial, as far as I remember, Bobek herself caused it. Didn´t she get injured during some tour she was not supposed to participate in, or something like that?

I don't think she actually sustained the injury while on tour, but IIRC she annoyed the USFSA by first saying she was too hurt to compete at Nationals, but then promptly agreeing to skate in some shows (was in Nutcracker on Ice?) during the time that she was supposedly too injured to skate. Something like that.

Of all the Olympic team controversies, to me the biggest circus was the French team in 2006, where they had to choose between Samuel Contesti and Frederic Dambier.

Contesti got second (to Joubert) at French Nationals, while Dambier finished fourth. Somehow or other, Dambier was named to the Olympic team anyway. So Contesti went over the French Figure Skating Association’s head and appealed to the French Olympic Committee.

The French Olympic Committee decided to hold a test skate among Dambier, Contesti and Preubert for the open two spots. Contesti won with Preubert second, so Dambier was out.

Then Dambier appeal to the Council of Sports, but his appeal was rejected. However, his appeal in the local civil court system in his hometown was successful and the court instructed the French federation to put Dambier on the team. (He finished 19th.)

Contesti got so mad that he applied to skate for Monaco the next year. But the French federation withheld their permission. There were a lot a charges along the line that Dambier was part of the “in group” surrounding Didier Gailhaguet and his allies, while Contesti and his coach were on the outside of that ruling clique. hwell:

Edited to add: Contesti did, however, receive permission to compete in Italian Nationals. He won, and is now the Italian men's champion.