So, with the return of Josh Farris to competition next season, the announcement that Adam has recovered sufficiently to join the Stars on Ice cast (first show 4/13/3017), and 4CCs - with Nathan, Jason and Grant - coming up in less than a week, I thought now might be a good time to revive this thread!
First, I have to say I am so happy to hear not only that Josh is fully healed, but that he's returning to competitive skating for the sheer love of it. There's no one exactly like him out there, and I can't wait to see him!
Adam talked about using his recovery period to make some fundamental technical changes. Has he had time to accomplish that? Not sure, but I'm really pleased for him that he was able to recover so quickly! Wondering if he will keep his birds FS next year or go another direction.
Max has no competitions for the rest of the season (that we know of), but I have to say again that I love the concept of his bullfighter program (and that blue in his costume is gorgeous on him)! Yeah he had a tough time at Nats but I do think this program plays to his strengths and I'm looking forward to seeing it come together next season! I also really loved Alex Johnson at Nats and am impressed that he was able to attend school full time and still put out performances like those. Was similarly impressed by Jordan Moeller - so, so glad to see how far he's come since the leg injury and happy he's been assigned to a spring comp! And I'm looking forward to seeing Vincent at Bavarian Open - he'll undoubtedly have no trouble attaining the tech minimums for Worlds, but I am curious as to whether he'll finally be able to land a fully rotated quad in international competition after doing so at Nats.
As for our guys at 4CCs - I'm really curious as to what we'll see. Since Grant isn't currently slated for Worlds, I'm sure he'll just go all out - and I'm wondering if that will include multiple quads, and if so, how successful they will be. For Nathan and Jason, it's a different story. As fierce a competitor as Nathan is - and as young as he is - I'm wondering if he will go for broke here and try to win or if Raf will convince him to pull back a little (maybe a 4 quad FS?) so he can peak at Worlds. I have a similar question with Jason - will he try quads here or just go for a clean and beautiful quadless program like we saw at Glacier Falls last summer? I can see the argument both ways, so interested to see where he's at and which way they go.
Finally, with Josh's return, one of the things I was thinking about was whether post-Olympics we will see another shift in scoring that will equalize the balance between TES and PCS a bit more. In the past couple of seasons, judges have shown that they are willing to reward skaters like Josh, Jason and Adam (and others like Patrick, internationally) for what they do well, but as we've seen, the rapid increase in tech content has made it hard for these guys to be medal contenders, even as they work to increase their tech. There are many who will argue that skaters like Hanyu, Fernandez, Shoma and even Nathan already have better skating skills than - and performance skills at least as good as - Josh, Jason's and Adam's, so the latter three are no longer relevant. I personally disagree with some (not all) of those opinions, but my intent isn't to put high-TES skaters down. I simply hope that just as Hanyu, Boyang, Shoma and Nathan have pushed the technical envelope this past year, the competition between Josh and Jason in particular will push the envelope next year in terms of beautiful skating and compelling performances, and that the ISU will ultimately see value in that and make it easier for a more diverse group of skaters to medal. I recognize that competitive figure skating is a sport, but in my mind, it comprises many skills - not just jumping - and I hope that will eventually be recognized.
. I forgot to take into account that stress fractures usually can't be detected on X-rays until at least a week or more after onset. Therefore, it's very possible that he already had the injury at NHK but wasn't diagnosed until mid Dec. So, going by his clarification that 80% meant strength in his leg muscles, it sounds like his injury is basically healed and he's just working to regain the strength that he lost while healing (as always happens). Since he's already in great shape as an elite athlete, and did lots of off ice workouts while rehabbing, he should be able to regain his normal strength very quickly.
, no matter what he decides to do.
