US Worlds and Four Continents Teams?

[chuckm]

Ashley didn't make any excuses. Rafael Artunian was the one who mentioned the boot problem at Nationals. Ashley never said a word about it. Ashley's boots will be well broken in by Sochi, so that's no longer a worry.

At Nationals 2013, Ashley wasn't complaining about the flu, either. But it was obvious that she was coughing and blowing her nose during practices and before she went on the ice for the competition. USFS didn't send her to 4CC (it was right after Nationals last year) because she needed time to recover, and Ashley was pretty mad about that.

Ashley went on to finish 5th at Worlds 2013; together with Gracie's 6th place, they won back 3 places for 2014 Sochi and Worlds. If not for that, there wouldn't be the weeping and gnashing of teeth over Mirai at this year's Nationals......

Mirai's best and only World's finish was 7th

 

[leafygreens]

Ashley didn't make any excuses. Rafael Artunian was the one who mentioned the boot problem at Nationals. Ashley never said a word about it. Ashley's boots will be well broken in by Sochi, so that's no longer a worry.

"That's no longer a worry" as if you are Ashley herself. Sooo when Ashley falls at the Olympics, what excuse are you going to use, then?

Mirai's best and only World's finish was 7th

Mirai's best Olympic finish was 4th (something Ashley does not have.)

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Mirai's best Olympic finish was 4th (something Ashley does not have.)

Then obviously Mirai should go since she has Olympic experience. I'm sure she could replicate that 4th place finish in Sochi.

 

[b-man]

Yes, I AM serious. Ashley was in serious pain all week because of the boot problem. Ask any skater who is having to break in new boots. It's tough. When you have to do it during an important competition, it's hell.

Ashley won the bronze at the GPF. No excuse needed.

Both Mirai and Ashley had the flu last year at Nationals. But Ashley won--no excuse needed. and Mirai was 7th.

BTW, Mirai was 8th at NHK this fall. What was HER excuse?

Why didn't Wagner have a second pair of boots, she is getting enough sponsor money to afford a second pair. Sounds irresponsible, maybe Wagner is not serious about her skating.
Ashley had two falls last year and was overscored in a big way. With each fall, her PCS went up to cover her mediocre performance. Gold was the real winner last year, Wagner was held up.

 

[chuckm]

Why didn't Wagner have a second pair of boots, she is getting enough sponsor money to afford a second pair. Sounds irresponsible, maybe Wagner is not serious about her skating.

Well, DUH, she DID have a second pair----but she had to break them in!!

Skaters don't use two pairs of boots at the same time because if both pairs broke down they'd be unable to compete.

Ashley had two falls last year and was overscored in a big way. With each fall, her PCS went up to cover her mediocre performance. Gold was the real winner last year, Wagner was held up.

Gold was ninth in the SP last year. She won the FS, but was second overall.

 

[b-man]

At Skate America, Caroline had to get her own skate guards and walk to the kiss and cry alone. After waiting for a few minutes, Peter Oppengard grudgingly joined her. Karen Kwan was nowhere to be seen. At Pacific Sectionals and Nationals, Caroline was totally alone. No news reports, but it does look like they had a falling out.

Caroline was injured before SA, and her coach advised her to withdraw. She didn't follow the advice, thought she could tough it out, and had a bad fall between the SP and FS which made things even worse, leading to her poor performance in the FS. I presume Oppelgard didn't want to be at the boards and be responsible.

 

[b-man]

Well, DUH, she DID have a second pair----but she had to break them in!!

Skaters don't use two pairs of boots at the same time because if both pairs broke down they'd be unable to compete.



Gold was ninth in the SP last year. She won the FS, but was second overall.

But the second pair could have been broken in, not used regularly, but broken in, DUH. Poor preparation on Ashley's part.

Yes, we know the scores from last year. Wagner had two falls in the FS, skated cautiously and tentatively for half the program, but got huge PCS to cover for her mistakes. HELD UP! Gold should be a two time champ, and Wagner a one time champ. And I am not a Gold fan.

 

[Panini]

Mirai's best and only World's finish was 7th

4th and 7th at World's isn't all that different. When Mirai placed 7th in 2010, she scored 3.14 points less than the bronze medalist. When Ashley was 4th in 2012, she scored 3.91 points less than the bronze medalist. If you look at short program and free program separately, Mirai placed 1st in the 2010 SP, beating everyone else there, while Ashley's best showing is 3rd in the 2012 FS.

I do think Ashley has been the better skater in the last couple years, but that's not based on her Worlds results. Come on, can you really say her 4th place finish is that much better than Mirai's 7th?

 

[chuckm]

But the second pair could have been broken in, not used regularly, but broken in, DUH. Poor preparation on Ashley's part.

No skater does that.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

I do think Ashley has been the better skater in the last couple years, but that's not based on her Worlds results. Come on, can you really say her 4th place finish is that much better than Mirai's 7th?

No, but you are talking about a result 4 years old (Mirai's 7th) versus a year old result (Ashley 5th). Unfortunately, a woman's body can change so much from 16 to 20 that she can become a completely different skater. Mirai's peak form from 2010 probably would have won here, but that Mirai is gone.

 

[Panini]

No, but you are talking about a result 4 years old (Mirai's 7th) versus a year old result (Ashley 5th). Unfortunately, a woman's body can change so much from 16 to 20 that she can become a completely different skater. Mirai's peak form from 2010 probably would have won here, but that Mirai is gone.

I agree with you. I didn't bring up Mirai's 4 year old result to prop her up. Someone else brought it up to put her down and I thought that was more than ridiculous.

 

[pangtongfan]

4th and 7th at World's isn't all that different. When Mirai placed 7th in 2010

I stopped reading right there. Talking about a result from last quad in picking this years Olympic team. For the record though yes 4th, one place from an actual medal, is alot better than 7th, two places from even a top 5. And a 4th and 5th in back to back years blows away a 7th. If you were going to resort to go the last quad, you should have picked Nagasu's 4th place from the Olympics, not her World Championships best of a 7th.

 

[pangtongfan]

Why didn't Wagner have a second pair of boots, she is getting enough sponsor money to afford a second pair. Sounds irresponsible, maybe Wagner is not serious about her skating.
Ashley had two falls last year and was overscored in a big way. With each fall, her PCS went up to cover her mediocre performance. Gold was the real winner last year, Wagner was held up.

Yeah the short program where it was Gracie Gold who fell twice, including on a double axel, never happened. Since Gold didnt convincingly win the LP over Ashley by a wide margin last year, and Ashley last year didnt deserve higher PCS than Gold even an off day. The Ashley hateorade on this forum blows the so called USFSA hateorade out of the water.