I'm hoping that maybe she had an early flight or something, and turned the Gala down. This made me sad too though-leaving out one person in a group seems harsh. I think what they should have done is have 1) only the top 3 per group for both Jr. and Sr.s'. This makes 24, 12 per half.
2019-20 U.S. Ladies Figure Skating
- Thread starter MarinHondas
- Start date
I'm hoping that maybe she had an early flight or something, and turned the Gala down. This made me sad too though-leaving out one person in a group seems harsh. I think what they should have done is have 1) only the top 3 per group for both Jr. and Sr.s'. This makes 24, 12 per half.
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2018
Most likely Rika received an invitation as the current GP champion (ok, until yesterday) and Alina as the current World and Olympic champion. I believe it wasn't meant to be disrespectful to Bradie. It is just that we live in crazy times, where the three little monsters (saying it with love) took the entire podium and the organisers had to be creative with the gala. It would be weird not to invite the GP champion and the Olympic champion. At the end, it became weird that they didn't invite Bradie but, as I said, we live in extraordinary figure skating times.
I think Bradie should have been 4th. Her program was beautiful and she skated it very well
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
For the Torino gala: Five of six senior men were invited; five of six senior dance couples were invited; five of six senior ladies were invited; four of six senior pairs were invited. Two junior entries were invited from each discipline, including the junior pair who placed sixth.
I believe Bradie is more than mature enough not to feel disrespected.
(She did attend the Torino banquet that took place after the gala.
)
I believe Bradie is more than mature enough not to feel disrespected.
(She did attend the Torino banquet that took place after the gala.
)- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
Can't really argue with Rika's triple Axels and although she fell on it, she did rotate the 4S.
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2017
If she was invited and declined she would be fined $5000. She only gets $4000 for getting 5th place, so I doubt this was the case.
Edit: dollar amounts were incorrect.
Well, this certainly isn't the first time this happened. Gracie Gold was skipped over in the 2015 GPF, and I'm sure there are other non-U.S. skaters who were treated the same way. 
Though for this case, I feel that they really should've invited Bradie, especially since they knew in advance that Alina would just be doing a speech. I'm sure there wouldn't have been much of a problem with ending the gala on time because Alina was literally out there for only a minute.
Though for this case, I feel that they really should've invited Bradie, especially since they knew in advance that Alina would just be doing a speech. I'm sure there wouldn't have been much of a problem with ending the gala on time because Alina was literally out there for only a minute.
For the Torino gala: Five of six senior men were invited; five of six senior dance couples were invited; five of six senior ladies were invited; four of six senior pairs were invited. Two junior entries were invited from each discipline, including the junior pair who placed sixth.
I believe Bradie is more than mature enough not to feel disrespected.
(She did attend the Torino banquet that took place after the gala.
Then it should have been the top 5, period.
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2009
Bradie didn't win the popularity contest this year. It's gotta sting that she couldn't manage to get invited when all the other lady competitors did, but them's the brakes. There was a phrase in the 6.0 era, skaters had to "pay their dues", so Bradie's gotta continue doing that
Yeah, the other invited girls were younger and debuted as seniors this year, but I get the feeling that Eteri and Daniil are much more involved in getting financial compensation and opportunities for their skaters than Bradie's coach
I don't think this is completely accurate in this specific situation though. The ones who made their senior debut were the top 3, and the top 3 are always supposed to be invited regardless of how famous/popular they are.
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2009
Of course! How could I forget about Rika
seems a bit mean of the gala organizers, like it's designed to say "Everyone is invited to the party!!!
.......... not you"
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
This is what I thought as well. It would make no sense to invite Zagitova and not Bradie. I didn't see the Gala. Was Bradie the only lady not there?
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2019
I feel bad that Bradie wasn't invited, but it wouldn't make "no sense" to invite Zagitova and not Bradie. Zagitova is the reigning World and Olympic champion and has a huge amount of fans for a ladies figure skater competing today. They don't just go by placement when inviting people to the gala, and "stars" like Alina are almost always invited (imagine Yuzuru Hanyu having a bad day and then not being invited to the Gala, it just doesn't happen). And I don't think it was an intentional slight on Bradie, as they skip over people all the time. It happened in other disciplines too - the fourth place pairs team wasn't invited even though fifth place was, and in that case there wasn't even a good reason that I can think of. In ladies, it just happened to be that in addition to the podium, they had to invite Rika as last years GPF and 4CC champion, and Alina who is one of the biggest stars of ladies skating in the past couple of years. I wish Bradie could've been invited too, but they can't invite everyone, and 5th place isn't always invited unless they are a huge star (not that Bradie isn't a star but you know what I mean) or from the host country or some other extra reason.
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2016
Alysa will definitely be working on her rotations now. She’ll want to beat Bradie at nationals. However, I don’t believe that she’ll be working enough on her pcs. Alysa needs to spend hours upon hours with Lori and Carolina in person, and a video conference won’t do the trick. Alysa has admitted that she loves to jump most of all; I believe that’s where the focus will be, unfortunately. After all, she’s already receiving decent pcs, so why work on them?
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2011
i don't think Alysa's goal for this year or even next, since she will still not be eligible for international senior events, should be winning nationals. the big goal is 2022, and with time and experience her PCS will come. it doesn't matter much if she loses a national title in the next couple years to Bradie or Mariah. PCS is just something that doesn't happen overnight and while working diligently on it, her team should already know that. i think she should focus on being on the podium which should be an easy goal- she's not losing international assignments regardless.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2014
Arguably, the difference is that in other competitions, there is a much larger number of competitors per discipline than at the GPF. I have no idea if Bradie was upset, but inviting 5 out 6 competitors has a different feel than inviting 5 out of 12, or 5 out of 20, competitors. Would inviting the remaining competitors here make the gala logistically impossible? I don’t know, but I tend to doubt it.
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2012
Is Alysa going to the Youth Olympic Games? I know it's far too close to US Nationals for comfort (or even overlapping?), but it would be really nice to see her there - and hopefully get a medal. I should think that's a much more important event for a young girl than winning Nationals (but perhaps I am viewing this wrongly. Feel free to correct me). I presume she's eligible.
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2016
She confirmed on her IG Live that she isn’t going to YOG. It seems like the team’s priority is winning Nationals, which I understand. However, I think YOG is a really valuable experience, because there are no guarantees about getting an “Olympic” experience again.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
As far as marketability and endorsement opportunities go, 2x National Champ >> YOG Gold
