Assignment surprise...?

[seniorita]

3. Somewhat disappointed that Plushenko didn't return. I expect CoR at least, and it would've demonstrated his willingness to put his money where is mouth is.

didnt he put his money regarding 2010 comeback? Maybe now he got afraid of Evan coming back
I m not surprised not to see him in the list and anyway CoR has a TBA

I m surprised with Liebers, i thought I read in another thread he is seriously injured. And Brezina has 3 events, that makes up for last season

I just realised Not Daisuke, Kozuka or Hanyu on TEB

 

[mariposa]

Wondering why Myriane Samsom was not chosen for at least one GP assignment..has she retired? I haven't heard/read anything about her..

 

[Mathman]

The GPs are a major international figure skating contest. Each invitee will get to skate 4 programs at 2 different sites. Some competitors will be permitted to skate 5 programs at 3 different sites and then choose their highest scores so that they will be in the coveted Finals.

I'm not sure if all this is in the interest of good sportsmanship. A new breed of Elite Skaters will be officially born at these games. Is fairness considered for the non elete skater?

I agree. This is totally unfair. The essense of a sporting event is that the rules are the same for every competitor.

In the past, the skaters who had three events had to designate in advance which two events would be their "scoring events." The new rule is "best two out of three." Skaters who do three events will not have to contend with the unexpected bad day that can knock you out of the finals, or with the extra-tough technical caller and stingy judging panel, like all the other skaters will.

Still, not many skaters chose to go that route.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

I believe the Elite skater for 3 GPs will be chosen to fill a withdrawal if there is one. Who will be chosen is a mystery. That skater has a huge advantage of making the Finals.

 

[seniorita]

The thing is that while they made the spots less, they let skaters do 3 events, some are out and some have only one so they wont make it to GPF, i just noticed Armin has one assignment for example.

I didnt know that now they can choose what events to pick their marks from after they have skated there, thats not good.
I m still thrilled for Brezina and the others , cause since ISU gave them this option why not? but that sounds unfair indeed.

 

[Krislite]

Adelina and Liza each get two GP assignments.

Evan competing again? What makes him think he'll get anywhere near the podium nowadays?

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

didnt he put his money regarding 2010 comeback? Maybe now he got afraid of Evan coming back
I m not surprised not to see him in the list and anyway CoR has a TBA

1. Obviously, he demonstrated his intentions in 2010. But he also did CoR, no TBA required for him.

2. I would like to see him compete, plain and simple. Partially just to see those new transition-filled programs he's going to do while practicing four quads that his fans are crowing about.

 

[BackStage Barbie]

Big suprise: only 1 assignment for Sui & Han

 

[gmyers]

I am afraid that because Lysacek doesn't neeed quads to win they wont be done against him because skaters will want to be conservative in case he makes a mistake. So do quads vanish again?

 

[Tatjana]

The surprise I had in mind was Evan Lysacek. He never retired, but I didn't really expect him coming back (well he hasn't come back yet, we'll have to wait and see), although there were reports on him training seriously.
But there are some other surprises as well, as posted above - it is strange that Sui/Han right now have only one assignment, and they are not only the World Junior Champions but also the reigning GP (senior level) Final bronze medalists. Another comeback is Laura Lepistö.

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

I am afraid that because Lysacek doesn't neeed quads to win they wont be done against him because skaters will want to be conservative in case he makes a mistake. So do quads vanish again?

1. The new rules still favour the quad.

2. Chan's 3A is less reliable than his quad - do you really see him going back to three 3A's and no quad (as opposed to 3 quads and 2 3As).

 

[merrywidow]

I think we'll see a big improvement in Evan's style marks due to his participation in "Dancing with the Stars" & in performing with SOI. I don't know what to expect re the quad but will wait & see....that's if he actually competes on the GP circuit this autumn.

 

[BackStage Barbie]

Evan did indeed have the quad, he just didn't do it in the Olympics because his foot was broken. I'm sure he is aware of what Chan, Kozuka, Oda, Gachinski, etc are doing and knows he needs a quad to win if he does make a comeback.

 

[Violet Bliss]

So, of all eligible for 3 GP events, only Brezina takes it up while Ando and Kim enter zero event? And Sui/Han goes for one.

The only surprise for me would have been Weir competing.

 

[BackStage Barbie]

Koster, Savchenko/Szolkowy, Kavaguti/Smirnov, Weaver/Poje, and Pechalat/Bourzat all chose to do 3 events

 

[gmyers]

1. The new rules still favour the quad.

2. Chan's 3A is less reliable than his quad - do you really see him going back to three 3A's and no quad (as opposed to 3 quads and 2 3As).

They certainly appeared to when the quadless Olympic champion wasn't competing. It will have to be tested if Lysacek comes back.

Everyone knows Chan is doing all these quads because of weakness in the 3A and will that come back to hurt him against Lysacek. There willl be a lot of campaigning against Chan like there was against Plushenko by pro Lysacek people and they have ammunition to use. Will it go back to doing quads is a sign of skating weakness like it was against Plushenko. That doing quads is actually a bad thing and you are relying too much on jumps.

Evan did indeed have the quad, he just didn't do it in the Olympics because his foot was broken. I'm sure he is aware of what Chan, Kozuka, Oda, Gachinski, etc are doing and knows he needs a quad to win if he does make a comeback.

His foot was not broken. That's going too far. He did a horrible quad at US nationals and it was out.

 

[Krislite]

^Men didn't suddenly go back to doing quads because Lysacek vanished. Surely you haven't forgotten that quads are now worth a lot more compared to when Lysacek was competing. And that was actually a result of Lysacek's controversial victory in Vancouver. The odds are stacked against him now.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

The thing is that while they made the spots less, they let skaters do 3 events, some are out and some have only one so they wont make it to GPF, i just noticed Armin has one assignment for example.

I didnt know that now they can choose what events to pick their marks from after they have skated there, thats not good.
I m still thrilled for Brezina and the others , cause since ISU gave them this option why not? but that sounds unfair indeed.

I think the 3rd spot is used to encourage live fans to attend all of the events. Half empty and less than half empty arenas do not pay for the high cost of running a championship. There is no List of New Elite skaters for this. I would imagine, the ISU would try to place the vacancies, if any, carefully.

On another note, all armchair fans at home in the USA will not know of coverage for the entire GP events. Apparently, the American sponsors have deserted figure skating. We'll see Skate America on TV and we should notice if there are many advertisements showing at the rim of the ice. Campbells? Marchalls? State Farm? that diet food, etc.

 

[NMURA]

It's kind of funny to see some American fan's desperate hope for Lysacek. I'm sure he and the USFS are not powerful enough to turn back the time. I can see they are ready to crucify and burn the dark age of men's figure skating in Paris.

 

[colleen o'neill]

Mutter , mutter ....??grumble..???

I've been sitting here trying to wrap my head around this ..and my head is resisting. I don't like the best 2 out of 3 business and I don't like that the fields have been so reduced ( esp. pairs and dance, which were smaller to begin with ) .

They've tried so many wacky ideas with the GP over the years , that they then had to get rid of. This seems like it could be another..unfair advantage to those that do 3 , and making it more difficult for the mid-level competitors to get any exposure.