Senior Ladies FS

[Zelig]

Unfortunately there is no way this will end well for everybody. If it were up to me I would send the top 3 to the Olympics and Ashley to 4CC & Worlds. This would give Ashley a chance to accrue more points and maintain her standing in the world rankings as well as assuage the fears of people who think putting Mirai on the world team would not help keep 3 spots for U. S. ladies. I would send Mirai to the Olympics because I think it is the fair thing to do, Ashley is unlikely to medal and sending Miria would make a media friendly comeback story.

If Mirai is not given an Olympic or World spot she should at least be given 4CC and the host pick spot at Skate America.

 

[Tesla]

I think I'm the only one from the U.S. that thinks that Nationals should not be the sole factor in who gets to go to the Olympics. I like the Japanese procedure better. It's been the best method in keeping 3 placements for men and women.

You aren't the only one. I agree with you.

 

[MK's Winter]

So when did you become a psychic? Someof you forget that Mirai only bombed in 2012-2013 nationals.A spin kept her off the team at worlds in 2011. The performance 2011 4cc where she smoked both her teammates that beat her weeks earlier, would have generated 3 spots for the following year had she competed that same way.

I also want to point out that Mirai has medaled at least once on the Senior GP every year since 2010 I believe. She is a 4 time National medalist too. I would say she meets some of the USFSA's criteria.

 

[wordsworthgirl]

Did anyone watch the Ladies' Press Conference or does anyone have a link to it? I've been unable to get onto Ice Network for the past hour!

Thanks in advance.

I am devastated for Ashley.

Gracie was gorgeous tonight. Frank Carroll is a miracle worker.

 

[wordsworthgirl]

You aren't the only one. I agree with you.

And I agree with you both!

 

[dardar1126]

Twitter:

Philip Hersh ‏@olyphil 22m
Now USFS tells us they are sure Polina Edmunds' junior scores do count for Olympic qualifying. Hello, anybody home?

 

[ice coverage]

Did anyone watch the Ladies' Press Conference or does anyone have a link to it?

Have not watched the Ladies FS presser, but here is the link:

http://web.icenetwork.com/video/topic/66313784/v31298133/​

 

[Skater Boy]

Who said Mirai will be left off. It might be Ashley and it might be Polina. I can tell there are some pretty big Mirai fans out there; I do wonder about UR's with her some of her jumps appear a bit iffy. I bet you Polina,Mirai and Ashley aren't sleeping well tonite. Actually add Gracie as she will be celebrating big time. And in the bigger picture I would think we would realize thisyear was exciting as to results but the skating was so so. Gracie is not the magic of Kwan or the grace of Cohen or the personality of Bobek or the jumps on a good day of Tonya Harding. Though I admit she has a fair amount of power and is gorgeous despite some bad dresses. Ashley put herself in this mess but she was classy with Christina; we'll see if she goes to Sochi. Polina is a wunderkid but yes she has big tricks but is a bit juniorish or lacking heart and program. What would Johnny Weir do?

 

[boo69]

I also want to point out that Mirai has medaled at least once on the Senior GP every year since 2010 I believe. She is a 4 time National medalist too. I would say she meets some of the USFSA's criteria.

Plus she has the Olympic experience which Ashley doesn't have.

 

[dardar1126]

What would Johnny Weir do?

Vamp and vogue, baby...vamp and vogue!

 

[caseyl23]

You aren't the only one. I agree with you.

If the USFSA had done it consistently in the past, I would agree, too. If the rumors Christine Brennan is reporting are true, I've got problems with it for a couple reasons – first of all, because it's not what they've done in the past, and no one can deny they've had chances to in just the past Olympic cycle. Secondly, in the cases when they have made exceptions, it's almost always been in favor of an injured world/Olympic medalist or because of ineligible skaters/teams in the top two/three. The only exception to that, as someone mentioned in the short program thread, was Kimmie Meissner in 2008, and even then, they put someone the 2006 world champion (and '07 fourth-place finisher) ahead of a skater who had never competed in a senior event before and finished sixth to her seventh. I was pulling for Ashley to move up tonight, and my heart goes out to her, but by her standard, she had a terrible competition, and even though she's done well internationally, she doesn't have the track record of past exceptions to the top two/three standard. Based on their past practice, I think it'd be very hard for them to justify putting her on the team ahead of any of the top three.

 

[wordsworthgirl]

Have not watched the Ladies FS presser, but here is the link:

http://web.icenetwork.com/video/topic/66313784/v31298133/​

Thank you so much! This link worked. Wow was Mirai touching and adorable. and Gracie truly seems lovely. I loved her high-fiving Mirai at the end!

 

[wordsworthgirl]

This is what Johnny tweeted:
Johnny Weir-Voronov ‏@JohnnyGWeir 2h

What a pickle facing the Olympic selection of pairs & ladies. We should reward records and prestige, but whose dreams do you crush en route?

 

[LiamForeman]

Have not watched the Ladies FS presser, but here is the link:

http://web.icenetwork.com/video/topic/66313784/v31298133/​

Heartbreaking for Mirai. It's as if she already knows she's toast. I started tearing up with her. But what a fine champion she is. She might get bumped for Ashley who could do the same programs in Sochi and place 9th, and so for what???? I agree with Polina too, this week was the week to prove yourself. It's like being in school and you ace the pop tests and maybe the midterm, but if you choke on the final, do you really deserve an A for the course? As a former ast professor, I would give anything to understand and have a reason for a poor performance so I can be just, whether it is sickness, death in the family, divorce, whatever. But if it's just the matter that you bombed, well, take it as a life's lesson. And keep trying. Sometimes your dreams are not in the cards of your life. It doesn't mean you are a failure in life. Use your strengths and tools to be a world class X in your future.

I really do think if Ashley is to replace anyone it has to be Polina. Mirai has medaled on the GP every year since she placed FOURTH at the Olympic Games. She is not a flash in the pan. She has shown some consistency.

If Polina isn't pulled, I predict Ashley is done.

 

[TontoK]

USFS is in quite a spot, isn't it?

Are they going to kill the Olympic dream of a 15 year old girl who beat everyone (but Gracie's) in both the short program and the long?

I've been a lukewarm supporter of Ashley's, but it's time to face reality. She didn't earn her spot. Sochi is less than a month out... and she did nothing in this competition to merit discussion of dumping a superior competitor.

And, yeah, I know it was a pressure packed situation, but it ain't nothing like Olympic pressure.

 

[ice coverage]

Any idea of when the US will announce the team members for the Olympics/Worlds?

The answers re the Olympic team announcements is here:

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...Google-Hangout&p=814913&viewfull=1#post814913​

Does USFS usually announce the Olympic team and World team at the same time?

 

[Kimmie Fan]

The answers re the Olympic team announcements is here:

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...Google-Hangout&p=814913&viewfull=1#post814913​

Does USFS usually announce the Olympic team and World team at the same time?

Yes. They usually announce the olympic team, world champ team and 4cc team

 

[Gigi13]

Heartbreaking for Mirai. It's as if she already knows she's toast. I started tearing up with her. But what a fine champion she is. She might get bumped for Ashley who could do the same programs in Sochi and place 9th, and so for what???? I agree with Polina too, this week was the week to prove yourself. It's like being in school and you ace the pop tests and maybe the midterm, but if you choke on the final, do you really deserve an A for the course? As a former ast professor, I would give anything to understand and have a reason for a poor performance so I can be just, whether it is sickness, death in the family, divorce, whatever. But if it's just the matter that you bombed, well, take it as a life's lesson. And keep trying. Sometimes your dreams are not in the cards of your life. It doesn't mean you are a failure in life. Use your strengths and tools to be a world class X in your future.

I really do think if Ashley is to replace anyone it has to be Polina. Mirai has medaled on the GP every year since she placed FOURTH at the Olympic Games. She is not a flash in the pan. She has shown some consistency.

If Polina isn't pulled, I predict Ashley is done.

Poor Mirai I'm so sad I starting crying when she was in third because it like she's gonna be kicked off and I hope Polina is kicked off she can wait for another quad, I will be so upset if Mirai's off that team.

 

[SkatingFun]

Congratulations to Gracie and Polina. I feel so good to see two young ladies are standing up and be ready for the Olympics. This is our duo-hope to win back American's hearts on Figure Skating (after so many years!!!).

Hope folks on this forum realized that Figure Skating is not for fans on this forum, we need old glory days back to US general audiences!

To Watching the replay of Mirai's jumps, quite few of those are clearly UR. Also so surprised she got such high score on her Choreography/Composition. Don't see anything being Professionally Composite-d in her LP! And it was so obvious she took 4-5 seconds resting herself in the middle of her LP. There are so many Mirai fans on this forum, please excuse me if you are offended! But be fair, she earned the 3rd spot. Replacing her with Ashley will set very poor standard for US Figure Skating future!

Feel so sorry for Ashley. Seems the old nervous Ashley Wagner is back to bite her hard at this critical time. It happened in 2010, here you go again in 2014!

 

[jeff goldblum]

This was the first time I've been in the audience for a US Nationals Championship event; I've seen Junior Nationals (back when that was a thing), Sectionals, etc. but this was really so much more impressive. That said, there still isn't a great deal of depth in US women's skating. I mean this in the sense that the girls in the range of places 7-13 will likely continue to finish in those places. Not many standouts, outside of the final group, which, even with the falls showed that America's top female skaters can continue to be competitive in the world.

The most notable exception was Samantha Cesario, whose name I knew but had never seen skate. She was the first real standing ovation of the evening and she deserved it. Her program was well-choreographed and her engagement with it was captivating. Her jumps are also quite good and have this quality almost of "caressing the ice" as Dick Button might say. I think the unfortunate side effect is that this may be due to her hooked landing edges; all the jumps, good as they were, really skirted that line of being under-rotated or even downgraded. But, I loved her. Courtney Hicks was also fantastic and obviously has a lot of raw talent and strength, but I think it still needs to be harnessed. I remember thinking the same thing when she debuted a few years ago. She would benefit from a coach with a very clear vision who can tidy everything up a bit. Barbie Long could be one to watch, but I'm afraid she might end up being one of the middlers too.

It was also my first time seeing Rachel Flatt, and I enjoyed her skating much more in person than in videos. I really wanted her to have this amazing performance to give her a nice exit from competitive skating, but it was unfortunate that it didn't happen.

I came to the event as a Mirai fan and I did not take my eyes off her during the six-minute warm-up (though I certainly caught the other skater's practices as well). No one loves those Nicole Bobek stories of skaters just having so much talent and never making full use of it but, gosh, this girl really does have more natural talent than most of the other's. She was one of the few girls who didn't miss a single thing in the warm-up. I'm always amazed to see her skate one lap, waltz jump, another lap, and then immediately there's a double axel-triple toe. All the jumps were there, effortless, and clean, including a triple flip-triple toe and an unexpected and beautiful triple salchow (why isn't this in her program?!) I thought Christina Gao was going to the Olympics for a minute. The beginning of her program was exceptional. She has good choreography, musicality, attack in her jumps, etc. but seems to forget all that once she makes a mistake. People near me complained of her costume and music, but I was thankful for it not being the same-old thing and thought she pulled it off. I don't know what to say about Ashley. There were three two-footed landings that I caught in addition to the two falls. I'm a convert after the past couple of seasons and think she does deserve the marks she received because the rest of her skating really is top-notch. The fall on the first combination was literally feet in front of me; I knew on the flip she would never pull off a triple toe and hoped she'd double. It probably wouldn't have made a difference as it turned out. This Ashley Cain person was very lucky to have been in the top six after the short from what I could tell. She was another I had never seen before, but, jump troubles aside, the skating did not seem particularly special or polished. I think Polina Edmunds could be very good, but she felt awkward to me. A lot of people around were commenting that she feels like a very skilled junior ladies jumper. Her skating really is pretty decent though and she seems to have a nice sensitivity with her choreography in this program. The jumps looked easy and gentle, but were somehow not that impressive. People around felt Mirai had outskated her, but the judges didn't quite agree. Mirai, though, was on. I'm not sure what all of this looked like on TV or the Icenetwork feed, but I can tell you that everyone around me was very engaged with her performance; perhaps she just has a lot of people rooting for her. I agree the program is rather bland, and I think it's rather ill-suited to Mirai's skating style, but I think she's made strides with it over the season. Everything, save that first combo, which I'm guessing was intended to be a triple flip-triple toe, was just really solid. She's still the skater she was in 2010, but it is unfortunate that she hasn't shown it in competition. Gracie was definitely the class of the field, even with the fall, although I do feel her score was quite inflated. I was amazed by how effortless and huge her jumps really are as well as the crispness of her skating. I don't know how much more Frank Carrol has in him, but I think this partnership could yield amazing things in the years to come.

As far as the teams are concerned, I am of the opinion that we should send Gracie, Mirai, and Ashley to both Olympics and Worlds. I don't care about Polina's age, she should go to Junior Worlds since she's never been, maybe Four Continents. I don't think the possibility of securing three spots for next year's Worlds would be much different with Polina instead. Leaving Ashley off just doesn't seem possible to me. I get that she's not a Michelle Kwan, or whatever, but she's been our best lady and has continued to climb the ranks this season. We'll find out soon enough.