Don't even get me started on that. Ashley carried US figure skating for a decade, winning the only World medal since, I don't know, Sasha Cohen? Basically the Cretaceous Period.
It was shameful how the judges dumped on her because she tried (and failed) at skating injured at Skate America. Back then we didn't appreciate how consistent "inconsistent Sasha" really was. Now I feel we're in the same boat.
At least in the Ashley-era, the US could count a GP medal. So far on the GP, our girls technically have ranged from ok to
In this sort of situation,
it might be useful to have strong "performative" programs. So even if the skaters are not technically strong, it still is enjoyable to the audience. For example, Mariah has a bad edge on her lutz and Starr doesn't have the more difficult jumps and both sometimes fall, but they have good interpretation of the music.
I won't name skaters who didn't do that, but just because you doubled or fell a bit, you should still "sell" the program too, no? It's sad to see a skater skate with their shoulders slumped in defeat and a sad expression because they fell on a combo or popped a jump. F
igure skating is a sport, but it's an art too.