2021 World Team Trophy: Thoughts and observations

[eppen]

I admit, have never watched the YOG skating event despite following juniors. Thanks a lot for reminding me and explaining how they create the teams!! That kind of team building could make the teams actually interesting also in the senior events.

As for motivation for skaters or fans, well, a lot of the popular team sports are not based on countries or even continents, but rather something else. Like majority of the football players do not represent clubs of their home towns, but do it for love and money somewhere else. You would skate for your team, no matter how it was put together. Fans would have to decide their favorite team, though, using whatever criteria that pleases them - maybe their fave skaters in the teams?

As for Jason, el henry, we most certainly have to agree to disagree. However, would like to point out that I do appreciate Sinnerman a lot - probably the best choreo Jason has ever had. But for me it is first and foremost a study of style, the story is simple enough and comes from the song lyrics - the sinnerman trying to hide himself from the wrath of God on Judgement Day. Someone else in some Worlds discussion pointed out they would like to see Jason a bit less playful and a bit more anguished for his life and I agree on that.

My criticisms on Jason's interpretative capacities are more about the FS which seemingly has a storyline and character which he fails to make understandable. Even after viewing the Gene Kelly original it is heavily nodding to, I cannot make head or tail of what is supposed to be going on. The choreo perhaps does not help him a lot being a collection of interesting moves rather than a coherent whole - it does not catch the quirky style(s) of the Gene Kelly choreo and the story/idea gets lost in the details. And Jason is not strong enough to save it or to make the bits between the moves work as a storyline and/or character.

E

 

[4everchan]

I admit, have never watched the YOG skating event despite following juniors. Thanks a lot for reminding me and explaining how they create the teams!! That kind of team building could make the teams actually interesting also in the senior events.

As for motivation for skaters or fans, well, a lot of the popular team sports are not based on countries or even continents, but rather something else. Like majority of the football players do not represent clubs of their home towns, but do it for love and money somewhere else. You would skate for your team, no matter how it was put together. Fans would have to decide their favorite team, though, using whatever criteria that pleases them - maybe their fave skaters in the teams?



E

but football is a team sport. figure skating is not. of course playing for your club (and money) is enough of a motivation because as a team player you contribute TOGETHER at the same time by passing the ball, scoring goals and what not.... figure skating is an individual sport... read again about the international swimming league... and actually, even in swimming, there is team building as they can do relays. the team event for figure skating is artificially created. I see very little possibilities (and I watch a lot of sports) to create any enthusiasm + marketing potential unless it is done by country like it is at the olympics. I am sorry that for many fans from non-skating nations it means that this is not available to all... and i can understand that for a javier fernandez fan, it does suck not to be able to see him compete twice at the same olympics for instance... i get that. but then, look at this : at first in Sochi, the team event was not taken very seriously... then Canada admitted made it a priority in 2018... and now, there is a real interest with games going to China. Russians really want to claim gold back (and they most likely will barring a disaster)... i am pretty sure that Italy will do its best to medal in 2026.

My point is simple : see it as a new olympic sport. In Sochi, it was pretty clear that it was a 3 nation game. Even in Korea... but now, things are changing.... strong federations with weaker areas like Japan (dance and pairs) China (dance) have been developing better skaters in their weaker fields. They are closing the gap more and more. Canada is in a rebuilding mode and almost nobody at this point would say that they are a medal lock in Beijing.. which means that a new nation will get a team event medal.. etc.. and what happens with that : funding. I can see a country like Italy working really hard to put a good team together for 2026. They have good singles prospect and have had a good history in dance and pairs. I can definitely see some countries working on developing more and more their "all-aroundness" over the years ... to conclude, give it time.... more and more countries will get behind it and the gap will get smaller and smaller.. it happens in almost all sports... look at curling... in the past, Canada was a definite lock for medals at worlds and olympics... well... they lost in quarterfinals this year... on home ice... that just shows what a "new olympics sport" can do ... the ISU was smart in pushing for a team event in skating... fine, they could have done it differently in terms of scoring etc... BUT all they wanted is to have more figure skating visible.. and send a message to nations that they have to develop all disciplines, not just singles...

 

[eppen]

Maybe time will bring change, but the Canadian example for this season makes one wonder. If one of the superpowers of figure skating can get to this state in just a few seasons... What are the chances of other countries getting together decent representation in all four disciplines when they are building on much poorer foundations in terms of interest, tradition, facilities, coaches, etc.? My own country is one for winter sports and yet we have had moderate success only in ice dance and ladies. I cannot remember there would ever have been a Finnish pair and the men have not been traditionally very good either. And the future does not seem any brighter for pairs or men - the fed is surely working hard to make things happen, but the situation has not really gotten any better.

And then there is already an actual team event in figure skating - synchro. Which will apparently never be an Olympic sport because of the number of skaters involved (or so they say). Maybe this also makes the team event as it is now feel a little artificial.

E

 

[chasingneverland]

Maybe time will bring change, but the Canadian example for this season makes one wonder. If one of the superpowers of figure skating can get to this state in just a few seasons... What are the chances of other countries getting together decent representation in all four disciplines when they are building on much poorer foundations in terms of interest, tradition, facilities, coaches, etc.? My own country is one for winter sports and yet we have had moderate success only in ice dance and ladies. I cannot remember there would ever have been a Finnish pair and the men have not been traditionally very good either. And the future does not seem any brighter for pairs or men - the fed is surely working hard to make things happen, but the situation has not really gotten any better.

And then there is already an actual team event in figure skating - synchro. Which will apparently never be an Olympic sport because of the number of skaters involved (or so they say). Maybe this also makes the team event as it is now feel a little artificial.

E

Well it does need to be stated that every other team brought their A team (or as much of it as they could bring) and Canada brought their B team. Every other team took their World's team here (or their World's team and their World's team alternates if they were bringing more skaters here than they took to World's) and Canada sent NONE of their World's team.

For example:
The winners. Russia, sent their just crowned World's ladies champion and silver medalist, their just crowned World's pairs champions, and their just crowned World's ice dance champions. In THREE disciplines they sent the reigning World's champions from two weeks before and added the silver medalist in ladies. For their "weak" event - mens, they still sent their World's team who placed fifth and eighth at World's two weeks before.

Silver medalists, the US, sent most of their A team. They left behind their best ice dance team but still brought a team they sent to World's. They sent their just crowned World's mens champion (three time champion and undefeated in the last FOUR years) and sent a second man who placed seventh at World's two weeks before. They also sent their best World's ladies who placed fourth and ninth at World's two weeks before. For pairs, they sent a team who placed seventh at World's two weeks before, higher than any other team in attendance at the WTT BUT the Russian pairs team. For ice dance they sent a weaker team (although the spot was offered to the two higher teams), but still one who placed ninth at World's two weeks before.

Bronze medalists, Japan, also sent most of their A team. For men, they sent the bronze medalist and a second man who placed fourth at World's two weeks before. (Now admittedly they did leave behind the just crowned silver medalist and in hindsight this was a mistake but they did sent their National champion and silver medalist, so it was kinda an interesting decision.) For ladies, they sent their best World's ladies who placed sixth and seventh at World's two weeks before. For pairs, they sent their best pairs team who placed tenth at World's. For ice dance, they sent their best ice dance team.

In comparison, Canada sent a completely different team. Yes, they're rebuilding. But they left behind their best (for quarantine reasons mainly). For men, they left behind the sixth place at World's two weeks before. For ladies, they left behind the thirteenth place two weeks before. Switching the lowest ranked WTT singles skaters with their highest ranked World's team singles skaters and sending that team instead would have made a difference, especially in men. For pairs, they left behind their team who finished sixth at World's two weeks before - higher than any other team attending the WTT but the Russian pairs team. They also left behind their team who finished twelfth at World's. For ice dance, they left behind the bronze medalists at World's two weeks before - once again higher than any other team attending the WTT but the Russian team (although that would change if the US sent H/D). They also left behind the eighth and fourteenth place team. While yes, the US didn't send their top two ice dance teams, Canada sent their fourth best team here. Sending their best men, pairs, and ice dance team would have made a HUGE difference.

 

[eppen]

True enough when it comes to the first three teams - they were able to bring their number one skaters. But the teams between Canada and the podium were also missing firepower - Italy was one man down literally and France did not have Pap/Cis and Mae Berenice.

Addition of Keegan, Madeleine and Piper/Paul would certainly have added points to the Canadian tally, but if things had been optimal for everyone, would it have changed to final outcome that much? Matteo Rizzo could have done better than the second Canadian, same for Mae Berenice, Pap/Cis could have won both parts in ice dance.

Canada was second to last in 2019, 4th in 2015 and 2017 and before that on medals.

E

 

[Jeanie19]

I'm not sure they'd move coaches just before the Olympic season, and they seem very happy in Montreal. But, if they plan on going another 4 years, maybe a move straight after Worlds 2022?
I could see them going to the Lanes, especially if Piper and Paul retire.
I've also seen people suggest H/B move to Barbara Fusar Poli before and I can see that working too, if Guignard/Fabbri retire post-2022. Barbara is great at the technical side, and has experience with Charlene and Marco's lack of height difference, which could be helpful to H/B.

I think Barbara Fusar Poli would be great for them.

 

[Colonel Green]

Addition of Keegan, Madeleine and Piper/Paul would certainly have added points to the Canadian tally, but if things had been optimal for everyone, would it have changed to final outcome that much? Matteo Rizzo could have done better than the second Canadian, same for Mae Berenice, Pap/Cis could have won both parts in ice dance.

Imperfect thought experiment, but let's use the Worlds results (or in MBM's case, her Challenge Cup result, because she didn't get a score at Worlds ). I didn't include Papadakis/Cizeron because they didn't compete at all this season. For the Canadian singles, I replaced Nam and Gabrielle with Keegan and Madeline, based on Roman and Alison finishing higher at Challenge; for French ladies, I took out Maia for Mae based on nationals.

Men SP
1. Chen (12)
2. Hanyu (11)
3. Brown (10)
4. Aymoz (9)
5. Messing (8)
6. Kolyada (7)
7. Sadovsky (6)
8. Semenenko (5)
9. Rizzo (4)
10. Siao Him Fa (3)
11. Uno (2)
12. Grassl (1)

Ladies SP
1. Shcherbakova (12)
2. Tuktamysheva (11)
3. Sakamoto (10)
4. Kihira (9)
5. Schizas (8)
6. Tennell (7)
7. Chen (6)
8. Meite (5)
9. Gutmann (4)
10. Negrello (3)
11. Schumacher (2)
12. Serna (1)

Pairs SP
1. Mishina/Galliamov (12)
2. Della Monica/Guarise (11)
3. Miura/Kihara (10)
4. Knierim/Frazier (9)
5. Moore-Towers/Marinaro (8)
6. Hamon/Strekalin (7)

Ice dance RD
1. Sinitsina/Katsalapov (12)
2. Gilles/Poirier (11)
3. Guignard/Fabbri (10)
4. Hawayek/Baker (9)
5. Galyavieva/Thauron (8)
6. Komatsubara/Koleto (7)

Men FS
1. Chen (12)
2. Hanyu (11)
3. Kolyada (10)
4. Messing (9)
5. Aymoz (8)
6. Semenenko (7)
7. Uno (6)
8. Rizzo (5)
9. Grassl (4)
10. Brown (3)
11. Siao Him Fa (2)
12. Sadovsky (1)

Ladies FS
1. Shcherbakova (12)
2. Sakamoto (11)
3. Tuktamysheva (10)
4. Tennell (9)
5. Kihira (8)
6. Chen (7)
7. Gutmann (6)
8. Schizas (5)
9. Schumacher (4)
10. Negrello (3)
11. Meite (2)
12. Serna (1)

Pairs FS
1. Mishina/Galliamov (12)
2. Knierim/Frazier (11)
3. Moore-Towers/Marinaro (10)
4. Miura/Kihara (9)
5. Della Monica/Guarise (8)
6. Hamon/Strekalin (7)

Ice dance FD
1. Gilles/Poirier (12)
2. Sinitsina/Katsalapv (11)
3. Guignard/Fabbri (10)
4. Hawayek/Baker (9)
5. Galyavieva/Thauron (8)
6. Komatsubara/Koleto (7)

Team Russia: 7+5+12+11+12+12+10+7+12+10+12+11=121 points
Team USA: 12+10+7+6+9+9+12+3+9+7+11+9=104 points
Team Japan: 11+2+10+9+10+7+11+6+11+8+9+7=101 points
Team Canada: 8+6+8+2+8+11+9+1+5+4+10+12 = 84 points
Team Italy: 4+1+4+3+11+10+5+4+6+3+8+10 = 69 points
Team France: 9+3+5+1+7+8+8+2+2+1+7+8 = 61 points

As I said, some of these comparisons are inexact because the scores are so close (I'm quite sure that the judges wouldn't have put Gilles & Poirier ahead of Sinitsina & Katsalapov in the free dance, for instance; conversely, Keegan beat Jason and Kevin in the short program at Worlds with comparable performances from both and scored very close to each other overall).

 

[jenaj]

I haven’t even watched the ladies portion of the comp yet. It’s dull as dishwater.

You should watch it. Kaori was amazing. Such speed and power. Karen Chen was lovely, as usual. Liza brought her sass and 3As. And Anna was impressive, even though I still find her skating skills good but nowhere near as good as Kaori's.

 

[jenaj]

Kaori you were robbed at Worlds with such a low score. This competition was like going back to reality. Her speed and power around the ice is simply amazing! Even the host was stunned by her and commented several times about her flying around the ice. She finished second overall with 228+. So happy for her! The judges here were accurate. She was the best Japanese lady skater this year.

Also, loving the chemistry between Mishina and Galliamov. I think I’m rooting for them for Olympic Gold.

Re Mishina and Galliamov. I didn't expect to love them at Worlds, being a huge Sui and Han fan, but I did. And I loved them here, too. Mishina in particular showed so much personality on the ice. So markedly different from the stoicism of the Russian ladies.

 

[4everchan]

Maybe time will bring change, but the Canadian example for this season makes one wonder. If one of the superpowers of figure skating can get to this state in just a few seasons... What are the chances of other countries getting together decent representation in all four disciplines when they are building on much poorer foundations in terms of interest, tradition, facilities, coaches, etc.? My own country is one for winter sports and yet we have had moderate success only in ice dance and ladies. I cannot remember there would ever have been a Finnish pair and the men have not been traditionally very good either. And the future does not seem any brighter for pairs or men - the fed is surely working hard to make things happen, but the situation has not really gotten any better.

And then there is already an actual team event in figure skating - synchro. Which will apparently never be an Olympic sport because of the number of skaters involved (or so they say). Maybe this also makes the team event as it is now feel a little artificial.

E

1) Canada is really hard to evaluate here.... the "Canadian golden age" of figure skating athletes all retired together. Add to this some athletes struggling with injuries and/or lack of competitions and you get poorer results.
2) As mentioned, not only Canada is in the lower end of the cycle but they sent their B team... and sometimes, when you look at ice dance, a team that is probably going to need to make a huge adjustment if they do not want to get out of top 5 at Canadian nationals...
3) Do not forget that WTT is not the same format at Olympic teams. Japan, Russia and USA always do better than Canada in singles.... Canada has rarely had two strong single skaters (thanks Gabby and Kaetlyn a while back) competing for the podium...

and yes, synchro SHOULD be the team event in figure skating but it's a niche sport... and it is not just the amount of skaters needed that makes it less attractive for the Olympic Committee.

Remember : they are trying to bring more and more MIXED events. If synchro became officially a mixed sport, it may attract more attention from the IOC. It would also have to be more popular in Asia or even in Europe other than Scandinavia and Russia. Syncrho right now is about a 5 country deal (Russia, Finland, Sweden, USA and Canada if I am not mistaken) You need China, Japan and Korea, France, Italy and Germany to be podium contenders, and then it may change. That's what happened in curling. When Asia got stronger, it got more and more attention.

Finally, Synchro needs to lobby extra hard to get into the "demonstration" sports at upcoming games. If it achieved to do that, it would certainly help. So get Finland or Sweden to host the games

 

[4everchan]

Re Mishina and Galliamov. I didn't expect to love them at Worlds, being a huge Sui and Han fan, but I did. And I loved them here, too. Mishina in particular showed so much personality on the ice. So markedly different from the stoicism of the Russian ladies.

As I mentioned, i loved them too.... but strangely, if I do not dispute Mishina's fun personality, it's Galliamov who impressed me in his different way of approaching the sport. I find some of the male partners to be very drab and boring... but he shines in his own way and communicates well with Mishina. A nice change in recent Russian pairs skating where it's been mostly all about the fire and grace of the ladies.

 

[chasingneverland]

True enough when it comes to the first three teams - they were able to bring their number one skaters. But the teams between Canada and the podium were also missing firepower - Italy was one man down literally and France did not have Pap/Cis and Mae Berenice.

Addition of Keegan, Madeleine and Piper/Paul would certainly have added points to the Canadian tally, but if things had been optimal for everyone, would it have changed to final outcome that much? Matteo Rizzo could have done better than the second Canadian, same for Mae Berenice, Pap/Cis could have won both parts in ice dance.

Canada was second to last in 2019, 4th in 2015 and 2017 and before that on medals.

E

Yes, but Italy TRIED to bring their best men and same with France. G/P haven't competed all year (they're not even necessarily practicing programs) and Mae Berenice is injured. Also Lea is France's National Champion. Also Mae's PB is a 179, from two years ago and her SB is a 166. That beats Canada's second, maybe?

Also there is a difference between taking your second best ice dance team and taking your fourth best ice dance team. Canada also brought their third best pairs team. In a competition where there's only one ice dance team and pairs team that's huge.

Yes, Keegan challenges Russia's one and beats Russia's two. He challenges France's one and beat's France's two. And beats the US's two. He also probably beats both Matteo and Daniel. That's huge. Most importantly he does that across both SP and FS. That's at least another 5 points.

Madeleine doesn't change things as much.

Yes, once again Canada left behind MT/M. They could have beat everyone but Russia. Rather than finishing last. That's an 8 point difference.

Yes, once again Canada left behind P/G. Now, G/P aren't competing this year so I'm not including them because they were never a consideration to come. However, let's say US brings H/D. That's still third place for Canada rather than finishing last. That's a 6 point difference.

Now, they probably don't medal, but they weren't even CLOSE to France. They probably fight Italy for 4th place because Italy does better with Matteo in men - Daniel and Roman are pretty easily matched but Keegan challenges Matteo - but loses to Canada in pairs and ice dance.

2019 yes. 2017 D/R decided not to go. And 2012 was the last year V/M went. (Pretty sure Canada just doesn't take team competitions seriously with the notable exception of 2018 Olympics when they were all trying to win Patrick Chan a OGM. Scott has said he's regretted not taking them seriously particularly the Olympics but...)


Also keep in mind the Olympics is one SP/FS (or SD/RD) for ALL disciplines. That actually helps Canada. They don't need two singles. (Although a part of me wishes they would give Roman the SP for Olympics.)

 

[Colonel Green]

Now, they probably don't medal, but they weren't even CLOSE to France. They probably fight Italy for 4th place because Italy does better with Matteo in men - Daniel and Roman are pretty easily matched but Keegan challenges Matteo - but loses to Canada in pairs and ice dance.

See my above post on the numbers.

 

[chasingneverland]

See my above post on the numbers.

Pretty much the same. They challenge and probably beat Italy for 4th. Some point swings here and there.

A note on your post through, H/D would go.

 

[el henry]

I admit, have never watched the YOG skating event despite following juniors. Thanks a lot for reminding me and explaining how they create the teams!! That kind of team building could make the teams actually interesting also in the senior events.

As for motivation for skaters or fans, well, a lot of the popular team sports are not based on countries or even continents, but rather something else. Like majority of the football players do not represent clubs of their home towns, but do it for love and money somewhere else. You would skate for your team, no matter how it was put together. Fans would have to decide their favorite team, though, using whatever criteria that pleases them - maybe their fave skaters in the teams?

As for Jason, el henry, we most certainly have to agree to disagree. However, would like to point out that I do appreciate Sinnerman a lot - probably the best choreo Jason has ever had. But for me it is first and foremost a study of style, the story is simple enough and comes from the song lyrics - the sinnerman trying to hide himself from the wrath of God on Judgement Day. Someone else in some Worlds discussion pointed out they would like to see Jason a bit less playful and a bit more anguished for his life and I agree on that.

My criticisms on Jason's interpretative capacities are more about the FS which seemingly has a storyline and character which he fails to make understandable. Even after viewing the Gene Kelly original it is heavily nodding to, I cannot make head or tail of what is supposed to be going on. The choreo perhaps does not help him a lot being a collection of interesting moves rather than a coherent whole - it does not catch the quirky style(s) of the Gene Kelly choreo and the story/idea gets lost in the details. And Jason is not strong enough to save it or to make the bits between the moves work as a storyline and/or character.

E

Thank you for your answers, I will try to divide into two subjects

Jason's programs this year

1, Sinnerman: For me, Jason expresses just the right amount of anguish given what he and Rohene are trying to do with this piece, and the source of the piece. (Of course, he needs to skate as well as express, but over the course of the recent years, no one has skated and interpreted (expression) as well as Jason. I still stand by that. )

The program of course is not just simple lyrics from a simple song. It is an homage to Alvin Ailey's "Revelations". You may find this article of interest where Rohene talks about his vision and why he entrusted Jason with his vision.

Jason Brown, Rohene Ward seek to spread the light with “Sinnerman” program

When choreographer Rohene Ward contemplates a new program for Jason Brown, he asks himself: How are we trying to touch people? With frustrations in the Black community growing and COVID-19 tightening its grip, Ward thought it was time to honor Alvin Ailey.

olympics.nbcsports.com

“Jason incorporates so much of the physicality with a commitment to its original intent, appropriately adapted for the demands of a short program,” Penner said. [the article refers to Kate Penner, a ballet teacher of African American heritage.

“It really stands out to me that his body line is trained to navigate these new shapes,” she added. “This looks like a different program than what he has done in the past, which is impressive because given the demands of the sport, it’s totally understandable to see people recycle movement vocabulary from one season to the next. Jason does not do that.”

2. Slaughter on 10th Avenue: Are you saying that David Wilson did not do his best choreo for Jason here? It's certainly not up to Jason to change the choreo. Slaughter is a program that some like, some do not. I am in the middle, but having watched Gene and Vera Ellen in a clip of the original, I do not find it confusing at all, but that's just me. I can't say I'm in love with the program


Team Events

I agree that rooting for a "mixed" figure skating team is not as intuitive as rooting for a national team or for one's fav pro sports team.

I used fave skaters when I watched the YOG: Go whatever team Utashin was on For me, that was a real eye-opener because I was rooting for skaters I had never heard of or countries I wasn't "connected" to, and I liked it.

Then again, I have never understood nationalism in figure skating. I understand being proud of one country's skaters, to an extent, and of course at a fun semi cheesefest, it's adorable to see all the teams and to "root". But to get worked up about your *country*? In *figure skating*? It's like getting worked up about coaches, completely foreign to me.

My favorite skaters are from different countries, my favorite country is when they are skating, and my favorite coach is whoever coaches them. End of story. I found the mixed groups to be a great embodiment of that ethos.

 

[4everchan]

i think it's pretty easy to love skaters from all over the globe and still cheer for skaters from your own country.

I admire many skaters from pretty much all countries based on what I like in skating... For instance, in ladies right now, i am on the kaori speedboat. For men, I just adore Nathan. I find that because he is such a great jumper, some people have had this "he is not as good as others PCS wise" discourse and I disagree with that so it makes me like him even more

I admire also skaters for their personal stories, sometimes not related to their skills... For instance, in ladies right now, I root for the Empress Liza... never liked her jump technique and especially not her styling... but she grew on me over the years because of her grit, passion and resilience.

I also like good looking skaters like Han Yan to name just one.

And finally, it is pretty easy to root for your own country's skaters because you can follow them easily (live) while they are developing. I have seen many of the Canadian skaters at diverse smaller competitions, and that way, you get attached to them as you witness their development. It's not necessarily a question of nationalism but a question of presence. For instance, I have seen Jo Phan live and I LOVE HIM.. I have also seen Edrian Celestino (who had made the switch to represent The Philippines...) and he is such a smooth skater, that even without much jumps, I loved him, and he is not skating for Canada... but trains here... and finally, i have never seen gogolev skate but i follow him and hope he will recover from his growth spurt... because i have heard so much about him on national media that i am interested by him...

So, i wouldn't call my approach as a nationalistic approach but as a connection approach... and physically and geographically, and local/national media, it is much easier to connect to people from your town/country... it's just basic logic.


So for the Team event : well.. it's the olympics... I pay, through my taxes for athletes to get funding... I have followed them since they were novices... of course, I am going to root for my national team... I don't see a problem with that.

 

[ladyjane]

i think it's pretty easy to love skaters from all over the globe and still cheer for skaters from your own country.

I'm with you on this. I suspect it's easier to love skaters from anywhere when your own country hasn't got any high level skaters (I know, I'm in that position) but the part about liking skaters because of their stories and their personalities (Han Yan for China anyone?) definitely feels close to my own feelings. And, yeah, talking about connection...and what you get to see, I can't recall being more enthusiastic about skating skills among the men then when I saw the Skate Canada Challenge (which was shown all over the World). That wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been shown.

I'm on the Loena speedboat (although I love Kaori too) and definitely not only because she skates for a country close to mine that's been an awfully good Neighbour for many years). She does what I like in skating. but I also can cheer (and do) for young Lindsay who did so well this year for my own country,

 

[el henry]

Bumping this thread up because I'm not sure where else to put it:

Team USA WTT "escorted" the racing wheelchair for Paralympian, and 5x Boston Marathon champ Tatyana McFadden, from Japan to the USA
https://twitter.com/TatyanaMcFadden/status/1385723602369073153. (photo of Team USA with the box)

Tatyana posts:
When we say we are one team we are really one team. Thanks to the @USFigureSkating team for helping to bring my new carbon racing frame from Tokyo to the USA. for the @tokyo2020 games. International shipping Shipping has been tough during this time but you all made it happen