2026 Olympics Team Event speculation | Page 12 | Golden Skate

2026 Olympics Team Event speculation

Why should there be a problem for Malinin doing both programs in the team event? A watered down program done by him is still superior to anyone else and far far better than antything another US skater can come up with. So he can afford to reduce difficulty in the team event - kind of a training runthrough - and adapt in the free as well. And better not do something too risky (4A in the short).
 
Even skating a watered down program would mean changes to the layout, and I would imagine for the Olympics that's not ideal when you want your final layout and timing to be comfortable and set, to be practicing and performing a different layout a few days before the big day.

At least according to the Brennan article I read recently, Ilia would prefer to just to do the short, and I think that should be respected as it has been for Nathan and others in the past. What Deanna and Max decide to do for themselves is not relevant to this.

I also think it's a great point that we should treat the other athletes like the Olympians they are. Torgs and Max can be great when they're on, and it would be a good chance for one of them to try for an Olympic medal.
I agree 100% that if Ilia doesn't want to do the LP, they should respect his decision.
That's not what I am after. I am after the fact that the USA and Ilia may need to decide that the only shot at gold is with him skating both.
Also, I am absolutely not worried about Ilia changing his jump content. He does it pretty much from competition to competition.
So why not there ? Skaters mark jumps during run throughs at practice... It's no big deal for them to water down a program.
I'd love for Max to get an Olympic medal. So sure, if the USA cannot lose gold, make Max skate. I am only saying that I wouldn't risk the gold medal if Japan and the USA are very close after the SP and if that's the case, the only place where a substitution makes sense is women.
 
I'm totally playing devil's advocate here, just for the sake of more discussion.

If only one of Ilia and Chock/Bates can split, why can't it be Chock/Bates?

They're Olympic favorites, too (at least on paper) with three World titles coming in. And their path to individual gold here is, to my mind, more taxing than Ilia's will be. Plus, Evan has injuries that he's always nursing. And their backup for the free dance has more international backing and accomplishment than either Max or Andrew.

Edit: And Ilia is in the absolute prime of his athletic life. And Chock and Bates, let's be honest about it, are pretty old compared to their competitors.

I think I'm talking myself out of my previous position.
 
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Agreed. And that's how it's been since the beginning of the team competition in 2014--Patrick Chan, Yuzu, and Nathan Chen never had to do both team programs, so I'm not sure why it's being discussed for Ilia.

Sakamoto is skating both programs for her country. If she can do it, so can Ilia.

USFS left him off the Olympic team in 2022, and given the difficult tech in men's and the brutal toll it takes on the body, realistically it's possible that this could be Ilia's only Olympics. Then asking him to skate 4 uber difficult programs in a row here, I don't agree with it.

USFS did its job in 2022 and based their decision on their longstanding criteria. No one "left" Ilia off anything. You mean unrealistically it could be Ilia's only Olympics. He told it straight already: he's going for 3 consecutive Olympics. 26,30,34. He has a long view of his Olympic career and I wouldn't expect anything less from someone like Ilia.

People need to stop babying this guy - it's completely unnecessary.
 
I guess it is hard to find the rules in these threads but when do the teams have to be decided? Some unknowns is will USA beat Kaori in one of the events at least (SP v. FS). How will the pairs do? The schedule is something to consider. .It is unusual that ice Dance is so early individually so there is an issue of CB doing both p erofrmances. Normally the schedule woud kil any chance of say Deanna and Max competing but pairs is near the end instead of first so there is a slim chance they will be on the team.
 
I guess it is hard to find the rules in these threads but when do the teams have to be decided? Some unknowns is will USA beat Kaori in one of the events at least (SP v. FS). How will the pairs do? The schedule is something to consider. .It is unusual that ice Dance is so early individually so there is an issue of CB doing both p erofrmances. Normally the schedule woud kil any chance of say Deanna and Max competing but pairs is near the end instead of first so there is a slim chance they will be on the team.
draws have been made for the SP.
once the SPs have been completed, teams will be chosen for the FP
 
Question why is France's of Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron skating 4th in rhythm dance, chock and bates skating 9th and Fear and Gibson skating last (10th)?
 
Team Men's Free is on the 8th and Indiv. Men's Short is on the 10th. He's not a porcelain princess.
I think I'm coming round to your point of view.

He's certainly of an age where skating four programs will be much easier for him than C/B. And judging from what bits of practice I've seen, he's just brimming with confidence.

And besides, I'm fairly certain he can half-ass the Team Free and the team will be fine with his point contribution.

I bet you NBC and ISU and IOC want him to skate every chance he gets. He's certainly been the focus of their social media pimping.
 
We are all saying Ilia doing 4 programs in a week is too much but for some reason he's going for 7 quads in the FS in the individual event which he does not need to win. Why risk blowing a chance for Gold just for glory plus he's already did the 7 quad thing at the GPF. Be smarter kid.
 
Deanna and Max just cannot get a break. Lia and Trennt will have to be perfect on the SP. Deanna and Max had a much higher ceiling. In the LP, it is much less of an issue, IF Canada manages to get there at this point.

What is more worrisome is that this may mean that Max and Deanna are out of the games completely.
Prayers for Deanna to recover in time for her Olympic experience.
Cheers from across the lake for Lia & Trennt to rise to the occasion, skate clean and do the maple leaf proud!
 
I should have mentioned that quote from Boitano in my synopsis. And I admit I'd rather he didn't skate the team long. In my case, it's because I want Max, not Andrew, to get the call. Of course, I like them both, but I've been pretty upfront about my openly biased rooting for Max this season, and that's not characteristic of my approach to the sport. I'm much more of a "let 'em skate and see who's better today" kind of fan.

But I'm not changing things up at this late date - so, Go Max!
As I read this I picture Max winning a team medal and it feels nice. We will see what Ilia and the team decides. This is why we watch right, to see how the game is played?
 
That's probably one of the factors. The other is that, Kévin, with one quad and strong PCS, can remain in the pack in the SP but certainly not in the LP. Adam has more firepower for the LP. I would split it like that too just based on potential scoring of each skaters. At the same time, it will be close. I did the maths yesterday and I had France winning over Canada but with a tiebreaker.
I ran so many versions through the simulator and France & Canada did so many flip flops it took me forever to decide in Canada’s favor. Very close. Same story for JPN and USA - could go either way. Finally had to make a choice…
 
I ran so many versions through the simulator and France & Canada did so many flip flops it took me forever to decide in Canada’s favor. Very close. Same story for JPN and USA - could go either way. Finally had to make a choice…
If there is a tie in short program, what happens?
 
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