2015-16 Grand Prix assignments

[Alba]

Karen deserves the spot because she is the US ladies bronze medalist. But the international rankings system messes up on peoples favorites and is hard to understand. I think Mirai is amazing and she will get another GP because countries get to pick replacements when a skater drops out and she is known to under-rotate. So she will get another invite, and has a choice... I adore Mirai and she loves skating and is still at it. Any skater who was 4th at Olympics is great. She will find her way.

There are still 5 vacant places to fill: Japan, Russia and France one, while China has two. Japan and Russia might be difficult but I think France and China could invite her? Who's in China by the way?

Although I do wish that mirai gets a second Grand Prix since it would suck for her to get stuck again when she seems to have gained momentum...

What do you mean when you say she seems to have gained momentum?

 

[Shani]

Honestly Mirai will get invited because they do not think she will medal and host country picks the skater to fill vacated slot.

 

[Shani]

Mirai can rotate her jumps and go big. She has the talent.

 

[samm22]

What do you mean when you say she seems to have gained momentum?

Well, she got 117 in the long and 176 overall at collegiates with 3 underrotations in the long and a downgraded triple axel and a ratified triple toe-triple toe in the second half in the short. Compared to the 106 and 108 point long programs and the 160 ish overall scores she got consistently with 5+ underrotations/downgrades/falls last season, yeah she is gaining momentum. I think she has improved and USFSA seems to be more willing to back her up since her long program score was a full 12 points more than where it consistently was last season with a similar jump layout, not to mention her pcs scores were higher too.

 

[samm22]

Mirai can rotate her jumps and go big. She has the talent.

I agree! Go Mirai!!! I think Tom Z is getting her on the right track!

 

[karne]

Mirai can rotate her jumps and go big. She has the talent.

And when was the last time she did that?

 

[MaxSwagg]

I love Mirai but it's just too little too late. She's done.

 

[LRK]

There are still 5 vacant places to fill: Japan, Russia and France one, while China has two. Japan and Russia might be difficult but I think France and China could invite her? Who's in China by the way?

China seems already to have three American ladies, so unless one of them drops out, Mirai can't get a spot there - TEB maybe, on the other hand.

 

[Alba]

Well, she got 117 in the long and 176 overall at collegiates with 3 underrotations in the long and a downgraded triple axel and a ratified triple toe-triple toe in the second half in the short. Compared to the 106 and 108 point long programs and the 160 ish overall scores she got consistently with 5+ underrotations/downgrades/falls last season, yeah she is gaining momentum. I think she has improved and USFSA seems to be more willing to back her up since her long program score was a full 12 points more than where it consistently was last season with a similar jump layout, not to mention her pcs scores were higher too.

But that's a local summer competition not international and she still was UR. I don't think these competition should e taken seriously when it comes to scoring.

China seems already to have three American ladies, so unless one of them drops out, Mirai can't get a spot there - TEB maybe, on the other hand.

Huh....that looks difficult. :think: Whe is the deadline for these 5 places to be filled?

 

[cathlen]

Another spot is made known: https://instagram.com/p/6spyAgJciA/?taken-by=blade901
Congrats to Eladj!

 

[MK's Winter]

China seems already to have three American ladies, so unless one of them drops out, Mirai can't get a spot there - TEB maybe, on the other hand.

I'm hoping she gets the TEB spot. Despite everyone getting down on her jumps, I see the improvement. I knew we wouldn't see it last year since she started working with Tom in April. Despite the under-rotations at Collegiates there is improvement and that win was exactly what her confidence needed. I love her sass in the long and I'm happy to see her working on the PCS. I hope she changes some music though.

 

[actualrealliveanna]

Right now there is no solid USA #3. Polina comes closest but after that it depends on the day. It could be Karen, Mirai, Courtney or even Mariah Bell if she puts it all together.

Hoping that Mariah Bell winds up on the podium at US Nats! She's always been one of my faves.

 

[aromaticchicken]

When was the last time mirai put it together at a major event? Her collegiates score was the highest in a long time for her and really not that great. Otherwise the last time she built up true momentum was 2014 nationals. That was her last real score.

I find it so funny people were complaining about Mariah not getting two spots, about Nathan not being pushed to go senior.... Karen is only 16 and has shown promise for years and is the reigning us bronze medalist. I repeat, she was on the US National podium just seven months ago!!

The only world in which the TBA should've gone to someone other than her is if someone came along this summer with consistently scores beating her scores at nationals. Like, fine, maybe if mirai had landed a clean program without UR and with a triple axel. But beyond that, in what conceivable universe is the federation supposed to favor another skater over the reigning bronze medalist, especially when she is young, full of potential, and literally one of the greatest hopes for the future and a possible contender for 2018?

 

[samm22]

When was the last time mirai put it together at a major event? Her collegiates score was the highest in a long time for her and really not that great. Otherwise the last time she built up true momentum was 2014 nationals. That was her last real score.

I find it so funny people were complaining about Mariah not getting two spots, about Nathan not being pushed to go senior.... Karen is only 16 and has shown promise for years and is the reigning us bronze medalist. I repeat, she was on the US National podium just seven months ago!!

The only world in which the TBA should've gone to someone other than her is if someone came along this summer with consistently scores beating her scores at nationals. Like, fine, maybe if mirai had landed a clean program without UR and with a triple axel. But beyond that, in what conceivable universe is the federation supposed to favor another skater over the reigning bronze medalist, especially when she is young, full of potential, and literally one of the greatest hopes for the future and a possible contender for 2018?

Mirai had a better score than Karen did at junior worlds this year at collegiates...but yes, Karen did deserve another spot (although it's a little too early to say she's a possible contender for 2018) but it cannot be denied that Mirai is improving. I really don't think usfsa could have made a decent choice between the two. I'm glad that Karen gets to go, but it kinda sucks for Mirai. I wish USFSA assigned one of them to skate America and one to the U.S. Classic...I think that would have been a better choice. But oh well...

 

[Mrs. P]

Mirai had a better score than Karen did at junior worlds this year at collegiates...but yes, Karen did deserve another spot (although it's a little too early to say she's a possible contender for 2018) but it cannot be denied that Mirai is improving. I really don't think usfsa could have made a decent choice between the two. I'm glad that Karen gets to go, but it kinda sucks for Mirai. I wish USFSA assigned one of them to skate America and one to the U.S. Classic...I think that would have been a better choice. But oh well...

I think it's a bit much to compare a USFSA competition with an international one. Some of the point difference was in PCS, and Mirai's PCS will be higher because of her relative competition. There were only two other National-qualifying skaters there. They are going to give her higher PCS because she shines...as opposed to Karen, who was competing with her peers internationally.

Also the judging panel domestically might be more forgiving than international one. So there's that.

It's worth noting that USFSA gave Mirai the host spot last year. So it's not like USFSA never throws a bone at her.

 

[aromaticchicken]

Mirai had a better score than Karen did at junior worlds this year at collegiates...but yes, Karen did deserve another spot (although it's a little too early to say she's a possible contender for 2018) but it cannot be denied that Mirai is improving. I really don't think usfsa could have made a decent choice between the two. I'm glad that Karen gets to go, but it kinda sucks for Mirai. I wish USFSA assigned one of them to skate America and one to the U.S. Classic...I think that would have been a better choice. But oh well...

I'm a Mirai fan and I don't deny that she is improving. I wish her the best; I'd love to see her do well at a senior B and take a title somewhere. I, too, am surprised they didn't give Classic to Mirai, especially since it only looks like there are two spots filled for the U.S. at that event (they can at least fill another lady, I'm sure).

The bottom line is that replacing Karen with Mirai would be replacing this year's U.S. Bronze medalist with a skater whose last greatest claim to fame was..... being last year's U.S. Bronze medalist.

 

[chuckm]

You CANNOT compare scores at a domestic SENIOR competition to those at an ISU JUNIOR Championship event.

Here is Mirai's FS layout from Collegiates:

3F!+3T<, 2A+3T<+2T, 3Lo+2T, 3Lz<, 3S, 3Lo, 2A
Her PCS scores: 7.88 7.00 7.63 7.44 7.50

Mirai has landed similar content in international competition, notably at CoR last season, and never scored over 110. This is partially due to the URs and the fact that she hasn't gotten PCS scores in the 7s for an ISU FS since CoR 2013---which was also the last time she won an international medal.

COR 2014 FS:
106.98 52.60 54.30 54.38 6.93 6.39 6.82 6.89 6.96 0.00 3f+3t<, 2a+3t<, 3z<, 3s+2t+2t, 3f<<, 3lo, 2a


Here is what Karen Chen scored at 2015 JW:
105.66 56.02 51.64 6.46 6.29 6.54 6.50 6.46 2.00 3z+3t, 3f, 2a, 3lo, 3s<<↓, 3z+2t, 2a↓

Even with two falls, Karen scored nearly as much as Mirai did at CoR, and her junior-level PCS scores weren't much lower than Mirai's senior-level PCS scores.

 

[AlexRus]

I always thought spot belonged to Karen Chen, she's USA #3 so I don't see why she doesnt deserve a second spot, they need to nurture her carefully for the future and give her more experience

I was sure that Karen Chen will get second spot.

The only reason why wasn't it done at initial assignment - Karen could have second spot by substitute, and TBD spot in this case would be for Mirai (or other US Lady).

 

[samm22]

I was sure that Karen Chen will get second spot.

The only reason why wasn't it done at initial assignment - Karen could have second spot by substitute, and TBD spot in this case would be for Mirai (or other US Lady).

Karen did get the tbd spot for skate america. She also got the one of the us classic spots. She deserves two grand prix assignments; I'm not trying to make her anything less. But, I do wish that Mirai could have gotten US classic at least...in going back and fourth with Aromaticchicken for a while, I have to say that I pretty much agree. I think they both, karen and Mirai deserved two spots.

 

[AlexRus]

Karen did get the tbd spot for skate america. She also got the one of the us classic spots. She deserves two grand prix assignments; I'm not trying to make her anything less. But, I do wish that Mirai could have gotten US classic at least...in going back and fourth with Aromaticchicken for a while, I have to say that I pretty much agree. I think they both, karen and Mirai deserved two spots.

Karen Chen had CoC at initial assignment, now she has SA too. Two spots.