2026 U.S. Nationals Senior Men Free Skate | Page 24 | Golden Skate

2026 U.S. Nationals Senior Men Free Skate

FlossieH said:
Maxim is the popular choice because of last year's tragic event, not because he is a better skater. People like fairy tales which come true.
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Not just because he lost his parents, but also because he is very talented. To weather what he has withstood and come back to train and excel under such life-changing circumstances is not a small thing. It takes tremendous courage, among other qualities such as grace, discipline, and perseverance. He did not succumb to grief. I'm so glad for all the support Max has behind him. Plus, once again, the judges did not gift him in any way. If anything, he was underscored. No one can say that Max did not fight for and earn his spot on the team.

Max is NOT living a 'fairy tale'. He is gritting his way through tough reality. I am so glad for him being able to experience a bit of joy in having achieved through hard work the dream he and his parents shared for his skating career.
 
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Very interesting how the USA men's team is 3 Russian-heritage skaters, whose parents were all competitive skaters.

Can be seen as a sign of how the sport is failing to attract new interest. Only legacy talent has emerged. People who have been on skates since infanthood, because their parents work at rinks.
 
I wonder if Madi Hubbell is having another baby?

Sorry, wrong thread for this query. I meant to post in the gala reveal thread. Madi announced her students, Car/Pom to the team.
 
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Blades of Passion said:
Very interesting how the USA men's team is 3 Russian-heritage skaters, whose parents were all competitive skaters
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Yep. That was obvious yesterday. Three U.S.-born sons of Russian immigrant parents who also trained and competed as figure skaters. They also share that their parents coached them. They have a lot in common, and they are also good friends.
 
BlissfulSynergy said:
Not just because he lost his parents, but also because he is very talented. To weather what he has withstood and come back to train and excel under such life-changing circumstances is not a small thing. It takes tremendous courage, among other qualities such as grace, discipline, and perseverance. He did not succumb to grief. I'm so glad for all the support Max has behind him. Plus, once again, the judges did not gift him in any way. If anything, he was underscored. No one can say that Max did not fight for and earn his spot on the team.

Max is NOT living a 'fairy tale'. He is gritting his way through tough reality. I am so glad for him being able to experience a bit of joy in having achieved through hard work the dream he and his parents shared for his skating career.
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Very well said!!! He was 4th in the last 3 years. He has a consistend score around 223 ... lower than some others but consistent and he is the only one who won a competition this season besides Ilia
 
BlissfulSynergy said:
Not just because he lost his parents, but also because he is very talented. To weather what he has withstood and come back to train and excel under such life-changing circumstances is not a small thing. It takes tremendous courage, among other qualities such as grace, discipline, and perseverance. He did not succumb to grief. I'm so glad for all the support Max has behind him. Plus, once again, the judges did not gift him in any way. If anything, he was underscored. No one can say that Max did not fight for and earn his spot on the team.

Max is NOT living a 'fairy tale'. He is gritting his way through tough reality. I am so glad for him being able to experience a bit of joy in having achieved through hard work the dream he and his parents shared for his skating career.
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I lost it when he was kissing the picture of his parents and when he said he hoped his mom had finally seen him skate because she was always too nervous to watch. Lost it.
 
Blades of Passion said:
Very interesting how the USA men's team is 3 Russian-heritage skaters, whose parents were all competitive skaters.

Can be seen as a sign of how the sport is failing to attract new interest. Only legacy talent has emerged. People who have been on skates since infanthood, because their parents work at rinks.
Click to expand...
I posted something about that on the main board titled “Figure skating has an Olympic problem.” There are also tons of financial barriers. I’ve been thinking about it and I think the only sport that’s more expensive is probably equestrian because if you or your horse are sick or injured you still have to pay for their care. I’d say car racing but I think the drivers don’t own the cars.

Figure skating has massive barriers to entry unless you just want to skate around the rink at public skate. My current sport is swimming and all you need at entry level is a swimsuit and some basic lessons. Same with track, basketball, soccer, etc. These are all commonly played in high school, unlike figure skating. Some areas still don’t have rinks, although they are becoming more common. We didn’t have one in my area when I was growing up so I never got the opportunity to even try it.
 
TontoK said:
Potential placements at the Olympics are really sort of a non-issue, aren't they, if we're not talking about medal contenders?

There's no federation impact whatsoever if we're talking something like "Tomoki has the potential to place 8th, but Max's ceiling is 10th." And, to be clear, I'm completely making those numbers up for illustration.

It's a different story at the World's, where placements determine team numbers for next year.

It's one of the reasons I was aggrieved about the Olympic selection the past cycle. Yes, Jason placed 6th, and good for him. I really mean it, he performed very well. But did it really have an impact on anything? Had Ilia gone, could he have placed 6th? I doubt it, but he'd have gotten hugely valuable experience, and that could have been more impactful in the long run that Jason's placement. He'd be going into his second Olympics, not his first. And if you think that's irrelevant, talk to Nathan Chen.

Instead, you had a young man who felt slighted by the system, and his response was, "I'm going to perfect my style of skating, and I'm going to shove it straight down your throats, and I don't care if you like it or not." I happen to like it, butl there are plenty who don't.
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It's true that the Olympics don't determine spots but I don't think the Olympics are a place you go to get "experience." You get experience at challengers and in juniors.
Additionally, what you are forgetting here is the team event, in 2022 due to COVID-19 there was always a high risk of someone not being able to skate due to illness. They wanted Jason there for the team event. He could easily have been subbed in for Nathan or Vincent had they gotten ill. Ilya was way too risky and had not been getting high scores abroad. The team event has absolutely changed the way Olympic selections are determined and made the US move towards more BOW criteria.

But, anyway, the selection this year for the Olympics is as expected. I'm surprised Jason was chosen for Worlds and 4CC. He is landing beautiful 3As in practice. Maybe, USFS thinks this performance was a result of nerves and not physical limitations. I have some doubts but I hope the best for him.
 
This was an interesting read. In the end, it seems that the Team Selection wasn't the surprise, but rather how we got here? Good for Torgashev for pulling it together- but an interesting stat im noticing now is that for the singles skaters, men or women, it will be everyone's first Olympics, bar Alysa Liu. Wonder how that will play a part.
 
Blades of Passion said:
His parents competed for Russia and he speaks Russian.
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Let me explain :)
His parents did not compete for Russia but for Soviet Union and they did at the time when there was no independent Ukraine nor Russia as separate states as is clear from the dates when they competed. Ukraine was a part of SU and if you were born Ukrainian you competed then for SU by default as that was your country, like it or not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Torgashev
As for languages, a substantial part of ethnic Ukrainians did in fact speak Russian as their first language, especially in eastern Ukraine, due to intensive Russification in the 19th century and complicated policy of Soviet Union on local languages in different periods of time. It is a generalization but you might say that most people in SU spoke Russian either as their first or second language as there were periods of time when other languages were simply banned while Russian was the tongue that allowed for communication between different nations forced to live in one country. Ukrainian regained its position in the 90s when Ukraine became an independent state but even then speaking Russian in everyday life continued in certain areas. It started to change rapidly after Russia attacked Ukraine.
If you want to learn more :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_language_in_Ukraine
 
discodisco said:
No way. His programs, particularly last year, are some of my favorite. His skating skills are excellent as well. I would have said that Andrew's strength is exactly the fact that he is an artist- I honestly think that had he been clean last year, his programs at their best could definitely have been challenging for a top six place.
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I agree. (And i have my challenges with him in terms of his politics - and his ridiculous inability to keep his mouth shut about Jason ahead of this competition.) His style isn't something I gravitate to, but I don't think you can deny that he HAS a style - and that he has skating skill. He has tech, he has passion when he skates, and he has speed and blade control. What he doesn't have is consistency. Jason, Shoma, and the more lyrical skaters are more my style, but that doesn't mean Andrew isn't artistic.
 
sworddance21 said:
I agree. (And i have my challenges with him in terms of his politics - and his ridiculous inability to keep his mouth shut about Jason ahead of this competition.) His style isn't something I gravitate to, but I don't think you can deny that he HAS a style - and that he has skating skill. He has tech, he has passion when he skates, and he has speed and blade control. What he doesn't have is consistency. Jason, Shoma, and the more lyrical skaters are more my style, but that doesn't mean Andrew isn't artistic.
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Hmm... I wasn't aware of anything he said about Jason- although I've been more focused on Canadian Nationals
 
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