2019-20 U.S. Men's Figure Skating

[Tahuu]

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Waaaaaaaaay too early.

Meanwhile, the OWG team event rules for 2014 and 2018 would not have allowed these choices for Team USA.

For each country, no more than two disciplines were allowed to have different entries in team SP/SD vs. team FS/FD.

(Never say never, but I am not expecting the rules to change for 2022 OWG.)

You are right on the 2018 entries rules. Maybe Alysa can do both SP and FS if the rules would be the same. The result may be the same.

 

[mrrice]

Who knows if Cipres will even compete in Beijing?

This is an excellent question. Is he even going to Worlds this year?

 

[karne]

This is an excellent question. Is he even going to Worlds this year?

No, and I wager he'll never compete internationally again. ***

I would actually flip the US men, Tahuu - Jason to do the SP and Nathan the FS. Jason's SP ceiling is high enough to keep him in touch with or ahead of the other top men, and then Nathan has a very high FS ceiling.

 

[mrrice]

Who knows if Cipres will even compete in Beijing?

This is an interesting comment. Has there been a final decision on whether he will compete?

 

[Skater Boy]

Unless he is injured, I don’t see Jason not going for the quad. At this point he really, really wants to get it. I think he’s probably the most frustrated of all about it. And reports of it in practice are trending positive. Additionally, he’s shown now that he can make a mistake and not let it hurt the rest of the program.

Vincent is a question mark for me. He could skate great or poorly and I wouldn’t be surprised either way. I like his freeskate, I hope his team doesn’t lose the performance by trying to add back too much tech too soon.

True but Jason has been wanting the quad for years now. It has been a long long wait.

 

[karne]

True but Jason has been wanting the quad for years now. It has been a long long wait.

A wait that will be worth it when he lands it.

 

[el henry]

Jordan Moeller has launched a music editing business, geared to editing music for figure skating programs, (naturally )

https://www.aravensletter.com/

Evidently he has edited music for Jimmy Ma, Tarah and Danny, and Courtney Hicks. Given his lyrical sensibility on this ice, this seems a very good fit:thumbsup:

 

[Skater Boy]

A wait that will be worth it when he lands it.

Spoken like a true Jason fan But honestly it might be a bit ant limatic at this time. I amafraid he is no Susan Lucci even in the skating world. Hi fans may care but at this p oint a lot of people are "whatever" and but can he do it consistently. Let's just appreciate his beautiful skating

 

[Spiralgraph]

skater boy, I think that US skating would be thrilled if Nathan were to skate both programs in the team event at the Olympics. But he didn't do it two years ago at the last Olympics, why would he change his mind and do both programs in 2022? He and Raf didn't want him to be overtired for the men's singles competition, I'm willing to bet they are after that individual gold medal and the team event won't be a priority for them. So our second or third man will be very important. It could be Jason or Vincent or whomever..

 

[Tavi...]

Considering that Worlds is less than a month off and Junior Worlds is even closer, does anyone have any thoughts on how our guys are likely to do there?

Given how good Shoma looked at his last comp, I have to think he’s more likely to podium than Jason or Vincent. Still, that doesn’t mean Jason or Vincent can’t perform brilliantly.

For anyone interested, Canon Japan did a really great interview with Jason after 4CC which was beautifully translated by our own @Interspectator. It’s currently on the last page of the Fan Fest. He had some interesting and detailed comments on his progress with quads.

 

[Skater Boy]

As for Morgan though off topic he and Vanessa aren't even listed as subs for worlds.

 

[GS Forum Staff]

Please stay on topic in the US Men’s Figure Skating thread.

Please discuss French pairs skaters in the appropriate threads. Off topic posts may be hidden or moved to those threads.

Thank you!

 

[Makemi]

I've been thinking this for a while now, but perhaps it would be best if someone were to start another thread on the 2022 Olympic Team? There are clearly those that want to discuss it... since it's now completely derailed both this and the US Ladies thread. (My personal feeling is that is way too early to be predicting who will be on the team, for the US let alone for other countries. To put it in perspective, Bradie wasn't even on the radar in 2016, neither was Alina. Vincent was a junior and wasn't in consideration either).

To jump off @Tavi, there hasn't been a lot of updates from our guys so it's hard to say how prep for Worlds is going. I don't follow social media too closely but what I've seen:

Juniors
Ilia has been posting videos on Instagram practicing 4Ts and new combos so I guess that means he's recovered? We haven't seen him since JGP Egna so it'll be interesting to see how he's come along (and how much the injury set him back).

Andrew's going to be on next week's IceTalk podcast! (probably posted next Wed). Always love hearing from Andrew.

I don't know enough about Maxim to comment.

As for chances at JWC.... Andrew has pretty much the only chance of getting near the podium but I think it's going to be really really tough. The Russians (even with Samsonov out) and Japanese juniors are just way too strong. Throw in Grassl and Gogolev and Juniors competition might actually be harder than Seniors!

Seniors
Loved that interview with Jason. Thanks @Interspectator for translating! I love how open and honest Jason always is with his interviews. The comments about Pooh were especially hilarious.

Raf visited Nathan at Yale for the first time ever (I think it was right around or before 4CCs, NBC showed some footage on the 4CC broadcast) so that was exciting! He also spent some time with MFD recently polishing up Rocketman. His prep seems to going apace for the big showdown (I do hope he's got his Lutz back).

News on Vincent has been quiet to non-existent. Which I think is as well since he's got a lot of ground to make up, plus a new coaching team. I don't think we'll get any indication on his condition till the first Worlds practice.

Actually I find it kind of amusing that all our guys are training (to some extent) in Canada. At the very least, our guys won't have jet-leg and are pretty much all a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from Montreal!

(Off-topic but I was thrilled for Shoma at Challenge Cup, seems he's back and Worlds just got more interesting!)

 

[skatenewbie]

US men barely hang on to that 3 spot! We lost the few JGP spot but probably will get some extra since i believe Italy won't be using all of their spot

 

[elektra blue]

US men barely hang on to that 3 spot! We lost the few JGP spot but probably will get some extra since i believe Italy won't be using all of their spot

we just don't have that many skaters and with Daniel turning senior we have even fewer

 

[skylark]

This article quotes skaters and coaches reacting to the cancellation. Nathan, Jason, Mariah, and several coaches. Also a very good tweet from Evan Bates at the end.

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2020...OUhRC697bVKZkdr3TLysM3UoQihc-VyfE_RedVFP7adQg


These are great interviews of Vincent and Nathan, just published in the past couple of days. They make good reading.

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2020/03/11/vincent-zhou-interview-world-championships/

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2020...erview-world-championships-yuzuru-hanyu-yale/

 

[moonvine]

This is an interesting comment. Has there been a final decision on whether he will compete?

In Bejing??

 

[el henry]

An excellent interview of Jason by Phil Hersh, touching on his new technique, his newfound confidence, and delving into Schindler List:

http://www.globetrottingbyphilipher...schindlers-list-and-his-transformed-technique

An excerpt, where Phil asks Jason about his favorite part of Schindler’s List:

“Is there one moment in your interpretation that best expresses your feeling for the story?

A great question. There is the same underlying story, but we try to take it in different chunks. At the beginning, it’s a cross between being terrified at what’s going to happen to me and my need to fight for what I believe in. I start with my eyes closed, slowly open them, and you’re kind of in this dazed state, almost a dream, but it’s reality. I love that, and I love the part during the footwork where I reach for my stomach.”

A thoughtful and for me, in many places, moving read.

 

[el henry]

The Professional Skaters' Association has announced their awards for best performance at US Nats, and Jason won, but for the SP.

I'm so happy because as wonderful as Schindler's List is, "I Can't Go On Without You" is also a wonderful program, and sometimes gets forgotten.

The announcement:
*Best Performance Men's*
Jason Brown – Championship Men’s Short Program
PSA Coaches – Tracy Wilson, Karen Preston
Choreographer – Rohene Ward
Music Selection – “I Can’t Go On Without You” by Kaleo
Costume Designer – Elena Pollack

https://www.facebook.com/135977363114767/posts/2885778941467915/?substory_index=0

 

[theblade]

Great Park, and, in fact, all facilities associated with The Rinks, have been closed today. Closure is currently supposed to last until March 31st. A large number of skaters will be impacted.