2018-19 U.S. Men’s figure skating

[skylark]

Congratulations to Nathan on winning the Grand Prix Final ... again! I think he's got his own strategy, and he often doesn't talk about his strategies ahead of time. It seems to be: to work steadily on improving his artistry, while doing enough quads to keep his TES edge. Well, he's doing both of those things. He's also gotten much better at his 3Axels. I personally am not sold yet on his FS, but that's par for the course in the last few seasons, and I expect to enjoy it much more as he develops it. He's on his own schedule. I can't wait to see what he'll show at Nationals. I adore his Caravan short program. Shout-out to Shae-Lynne! (I wish he'd use her for both SP and FS, but clearly he wants to show different styles.)

Congratulations to Jason on his Golden Spin win! There's been so much talk here about how well he's doing, so no need for me to repeat it. But I love it and am so happy for him. I really think Brian and Tracy are giving him exactly the encouragement and improvement he needed, to re-build his confidence. I expect to see more good things from him. The changes in the points system (esp +5 to -5) were made for skaters like Jason.

How is Alexei doing health wise? Is he back to 100%? I feel like we haven't really seen him this fall.

It depends which events you watched, I guess. Alexei skated in two Grand Prix, and Nebelhorn. In Finland GP, Alexei came in 7th in a field that included Hanyu, Brezina, Cha, Kolyada, Boyang Jin, and Lazukin. At Rostelecom Cup, he was 8th in a similar field. I enjoyed his skates very much. It seemed to me that he wasn't skating with his usual abandon, which I think was wise because he was still recovering from injury. Maybe his strategy was to skate clean. Either way, I think those were great results for a man in his first senior season, and not wanting to risk a re-injury.

 

[alexaa]

Why would it be inappropriate? Nathan AFAIK is a U.S. man.

So, I can empathize with bonita for thinking that a comment discussing Nathan wouldn't be welcome here.

Sorry for the confusion. I originally planned to post this in the GPF final in response to post about concerns of Nathan leaving the sport to pursue school. I changed my mind to post in this thread thinking there are more people care about Nathan in this thread, and probably share similar concerns, and plus Nathan did talk little about American figures skating at the end. But then I am little bit hesitant with concerns if too many posts about Nathan would turn this thread like a fan fest.

It is me overthinking too much. This thread is the friendliest to Nathan besides FF in this forum.

Thank you NathanMiraifan111 for speaking for me.

Something else just came to my mind when I am writing this. There was a very good interview done by the Japanese magazine Spur back in August. Nathan mentioned that one of the he reasons he plans to do school and skating is that he wants to show you can actually do both, so kids don’t need to give up skating because of school, or the other way around. I think Max, Alex are all successful in doing both, and with more skaters doing both, it would help greatly to attract and keep more talents to this sport, which to him is important to the future of American figure skating.

I don’t know if he would succeed in his plan to stay at the top at both school and skating. But For that particular reason he stated in the Spur interview, I really wish he could balance The two without burning himself out, and set a good example for the younger generation.

 

[yelyoh]

My guess it that Nathan will continue Yale through his junior year and then take a year off for Olympics '22 and then complete his education and continue to grad school.

 

[theharleyquinn]

My guess it that Nathan will continue Yale through his junior year and then take a year off for Olympics '22 and then complete his education and continue to grad school.

I think he'll be pushed to do 1.5 to 2. I can't imagine Raf sees one year as enough. Things become a bit more difficult if he takes off more than 1 but Yale would most certainly work with him.

 

[mrrice]

I think he'll be pushed to do 1.5 to 2. I can't imagine Raf sees one year as enough. Things become a bit more difficult if he takes off more than 1 but Yale would most certainly work with him.

I agree. Yale will most likely work with Nathan. I was offered credit for taking time off school to record and I was not anywhere Near as popular or well known as Nathan. As a National and World Champion, I think Yale will be happy to accommodate Nathan and list him as a Student.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

He's balancing school and his skating career surprisingly well. Realistically, the worst case scenario is that he loses only one competition this season (Worlds), which is quite remarkable for a full-time college student.

 

[princessalica]

I agree. Yale will most likely work with Nathan. I was offered credit for taking time off school to record and I was not anywhere as popular or known as Nathan. As a National and World Champion, I think Yale will be happy to accommodate Nathan and list him as a Student.

Nathan said in his interview with Meryl that ideally he will take off two years for the next Olympic cycle. He doesn't know how he's going to accomplish it, but he and Raf are definitely planning on it.

 

[lurkz2]

Bumping the thread since US Nationals is coming up. If Nathan's not doing 4cc, selection will be very interesting.

 

[ElSoteroLoco]

Bumping the thread since US Nationals is coming up. If Nathan's not doing 4cc, selection will be very interesting.

i truly hope Nathan is NOT doing 4CC.....he should be resting and concentrating on Worlds. I do think that Jason and Vincent should be going though.... does anyone know if we have 3 entries for 4CC's? If so, then whomever has a decent performance should get that third spot

 

[StitchMonkey]

i truly hope Nathan is NOT doing 4CC.....he should be resting and concentrating on Worlds. I do think that Jason and Vincent should be going though.... does anyone know if we have 3 entries for 4CC's? If so, then whomever has a decent performance should get that third spot

4CC gives 3 spots to EVERYONE - so long as the country has three skaters that have the TES minimums.

One of the things i love about it. No one has to worry about "spots" they can just go and skate. It is a great place/time to try new content for this reason...I actually was wondering if we would see a 4A face off of Keegan and Hanyu there for that reason.

I really really wish Europeans would follow 4CCs on this one. Spread the love and welcome all i say!

I fear USFS might want Nathan at 4CC. How often is in the USA and how often does the USA have a reigning non-dance world champion to actually skate at a home 4CC. Nathan could actually be a draw. At the same time... he already has the title from there, id rather see him focus on his health, studies, and worlds and in doing so give an up and commer a chance to compete.

 

[Mrs. P]

I don't see Nathan skipping it. Even with school, he can probably get away for a long weekend and compete. We’ll see. It does up Jason’s odds (assuming he’s there, which I am not cause jinxing lol) of being a two-time 4CC medalist though if Nathan opts out.

 

[Tahuu]

I hope Nathan won’t compete here and Shoma to win his first ISU championship (I know this’s a US men’s thread).

 

[ice coverage]

I don't see Nathan skipping it. Even with school, he can probably get away for a long weekend and compete. We’ll see. …

FWIW, Nathan was not included in a recent USFS promo for Four Continents, and his absence did raise my eyebrows. Does not prove anything, but it did make me wonder whether USFS was/is trying to avoid giving the impression that Nathan is likely to compete.

The promo had file footage of other usual suspects from Team USA, but not Nathan.
(Merely file footage. It is not as if other Team USA skaters were speaking to camera, and Nathan just happened to be unavailable for one particular Four Continents promo shoot.)

Don't feel like looking for a link, but IIRC, the promo was used for a 50-days-to-go post on social media.

---

ETA:

Link below is to USFS tweet from Dec 19, which has a Four Continents promo video -- showing Vincent and Jason, but not Nathan. Showing Team USA skaters from other disciplines as well. Plus some international skaters, such as Satoko and Julian.

https://twitter.com/USFigureSkating/status/1075414106474041344​

 

[oatmella]

Nathan wasn’t in the recent 4CC promo - and he wasn’t filmed in the promo featuring puppies from a local shelter when SOI was in Anaheim - same location as 4CC. I think Madison and Zach, Bradie, Vincent, and Jason were included in the puppy promo - all are expected to compete at 4CC.

4CC is quite close to Nationals - and Nathan already has to miss school for that. I think if he was planning on competing there, he definitely would be featured in the promos.

 

[Tahuu]

See this Vincent interview in his fan fest https://skatingchina.com/2019/01/vincent-zhou-proud-of-his-fight-despite-injury-english/.

Nice to read he no longer suggests the underrotation calls were out of his control and others' fault as he posted after SA: "My landings are never the cleanest, it's been like this since childhood. The landings of my jumps are not straight backward landing, and there's a curve. I'm working very hard to just make my quads straight backwards so that there's no question whether it's clean or not."

Missing that World medal last year remains a bitter pill to swallow, hope he'll get another chance: "I hope I can have a small peak in the Nationals, and that my biggest peak is at the Worlds. I want to be on the World podium. I know I can. I was third in the short last year, if it weren't for injuring my back before I left for the Worlds, I would have been on the podium. I would have had a silver medal probably. But again, that's in the past, I shouldn't dwell over it. I will move on and keep training to achieve that in the future. Now that I have a little time to prepare for the Nationals and the Worlds, I hope to remain healthy, train my consistency and my jumps, and continue pushing my artistry. I really believe I have the potential to be one of the best skaters in the world."

 

[Casual]

I don’t know if he would succeed in his plan to stay at the top at both school and skating. But For that particular reason he stated in the Spur interview, I really wish he could balance The two without burning himself out, and set a good example for the younger generation.

That's a goal worthy of our support! Especially given the silliness that used to (still does?) persist in US high school culture, separating the "jocks" from the "brains", or athletes from intellectuals.

I know a former figure skater who got admitted to Stanford. She said that despite rigorous requirements, she found that she was way above her classmates in being able to handle the stress and demands of their very hard educational program - due to essential skills she learned as a skater. While her classmates were struggling to adjust, she was able to mobilize her resources with ease and sail through the challenges.

I think it's awesome that Nathan wants to serve as an example to kids, and to demonstrate that you don't have to be one or the other - an athlete or an intellectual - and that it's preferable and possible to be both, to the best of one's ability.

 

[karne]

So I was just back in the early pages of the thread when I came across this from May:

I think Vincent's position as the "number 2" will be heavily dependent on URs. If he can clean them up then sure, he's right there. But if he can't, he leaves the door wide open, and anyone who thinks Jason would just stroll past a wide open door is nutso.

I'm banking very heavily on a season of vengeance from Jason. People forget that behind the sunny, joyful smile there is a fearsome, hardened competitor.

I'm also bank that at some point next season the USFS/US skating fans are going to suddenly realise that they really miss Max.

Sadly, I can't predict the lotto numbers with as much accuracy.

 

[ice coverage]

Andrew Austin will be a first-timer at Nats in Senior Men.
I stumbled upon (and enjoyed ) this local TV news feature about him.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/on-air/as-seen-on/figure-skating-weight-loss-503925422.html (1:44, Jan 4)​

He attends the University of Colorado in Boulder, and his coach Quinton Clemons is in the Chicago area.
They work together remotely (reminiscent of Nathan/Raf).

Andrew placed fourth at Midwestern Sectionals.

Getting a little sense of him from this video will make it more fun for me to cheer for him in Detroit. Go, Andrew and Quinton! :yay:

(Andrew will be in Practice Group D, along with Jason, Tomoki, Jimmy Ma, and Sean.
Andrew and Jason are fellow members of Skokie Valley SC.)

---

For posterity, adding a belated mention to this thread re Ilia Malinin:

As discussed in the U.S. Ladies thread, USFS sent Alysa Liu as an observer to JGPF/GPF.
If I am not mistaken, Ilia was in a photo with her there, and my guess is that he too was sent by USFS.​

 

[sheetz]

Vincent gave his media call ahead of Nationals.

Lynn Rutherford tweets:

After Tallinn Trophy he spent a week in Toronto to re-work SP w/Lori Nichol & FS w/Jeff Buttle: "We made pretty significant changes & they feel better than before."

https://twitter.com/LynnRutherford/status/1082787707875667968

He is working to "Redefine my standard of what is acceptable jump rotation" w/his coaching team; training is going well & he thinks change will be noticeable at nationals: "They (tech panels) are keeping an eagle-eye on my jumps but it doesn't bother me."

https://twitter.com/LynnRutherford/status/1082789326252060674

He is re-thinking past strategy of doing 4-5 quads in FS, because "They (judges) are rewarding cleaner, well-executed programs as opposed to (technically) ambitious programs that are not executed as well."

https://twitter.com/LynnRutherford/status/1082789851647361024

 

[Tavi...]

Thanks for posting that @sheetz! Finally, some Nats-related information on a US man.

The changes Vincent is making sound promising!