Have to agree with him for the most part except when it comes to the US national champs. I don't think they even have an outside chance to medal at the olympics with how fierced the competition is. I just saw the Xue Sheng and Hongbo Zhao test skate and aside from the triple jumps, they are truly a thread to medal. If he can do the triple, i say gold for them!! They have a really nice program with very interesting entrances and program components.
By outside chance- I assume he means others faltering and them having a spot on skate. I htink if they hit verything they'll be close enough to benefit form others' errors and try for bronze- otherwise a strong showing is the goal.
I'm not as confident about our #2 pair going top 10 since they didn't hit any SBS jumps above doubles at nationals. I wish NNN and TL had had enough COP exposure to fix that lift and squeak out a few extra points. I actually liked watching them most out of the pairs (although I understand their placement.)
Is it possible that only the fans love Savchenko & Szolkowy? I'm continually baffled by their scores that never seem to match their modern, elegant style on the ice... I'd love for this team to stand on the podium. Love them!
The Germans should be mentioned as a threat, but Pang/Tong are not. They have been clearly surpassed by Zhang/Zhang, and have always been far behind Shen/Zhou. The top two Chinese, top two Russians, the Germans, are the 5 teams that all have a shot at a medal. Pang/Tong have none, barring a meltdown of an event.