K. Chen and B. Tennell selected for Worlds

[gsk8]

U.S. Figure Skating Announces Ladies Selections for World Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (January 16, 2021) - U.S. Figure Skating has announced its ladies selections for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021. The teams were selected following the Championship-level ladies competition at the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Las Vegas.

The World Championships are set for March 22-28, 2021, in Stockholm.

Selections, with exception of alternates, are listed in alphabetical order:

Karen Chen
Bradie Tennell

Alternate 1 – Amber Glenn
Alternate 2 – Mariah Bell
Alternate 3 – Audrey Shin*
*Pending minimum score

Recently crowned the 2021 U.S. ladies champion, Tennell finished sixth and seventh at the 2018 and 2019 World Championships, respectively. She was named to the 2020 World Team, but the competition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tennell is also an Olympic bronze medalist in the team event (2018).

Chen will be making her second Worlds appearance after finishing fourth at the 2017 World Championships, which helped secure three ladies entries to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Last night, the 2018 Olympian earned the U.S. bronze medal in the ladies event.

The men’s, pairs and ice dance World Team selections will be announced on Sunday evening.

 

[nussnacker]

For a second I thought they just named Nathan without letting him perform first, and I honestly wouldn’t blame them, lol.

 

[kirauza343]

A good decision. It really could’ve gone either way between Amber and Karen with how close they were, but with Karen’s better Skate America showing and her higher international scores I can see why they picked her. I’m glad they still gave Amber her due by having her as the first alternate!

I like seeing Audrey as an alternate! Her short let her down here but she had one of the best frees outside the top 4 and showed a lot of fight, and we’ve seen that she’s capable of going clean at Skate America.

 

[NAOTMAA]

Karen and Amber were so close in both the SP and free it could have gone either way. Karen’a trump card was she has a far better international scores/reputation and is far less likely to meltdown.

I’m glad Amber is first alternate. They could have easily given her the Ross treatment and dump her when it came to that too

 

[jaylee]

Not a terrible decision. Good luck to Bradie and Karen at Worlds!

 

[Skatefan15]

Karen has a better “reputation” but I feel like her scores were worse internationally than Amber during the last GP series (granted both of Karen’s skates were meltdowns...but still). Happy Amber’s at least first alternate (would’ve liked for her to go to her first worlds though as the US has no shot at 3 spots). Congrats to Bradie and Karen nonetheless!

However, worlds still may be cancelled, so at this point I’m not taking this too seriously

 

[CellarDweller]

Congrats to both Bradie and Karen!

 

[happycamper2554]

Can someone tell me where they are in World standings?

 

[Smith16]

Can someone tell me where they are in World standings?

Bradie is #2, Mariah is #14, Amber is #26 and Karen is #39

http://www.isuresults.com/ws/ws/wsladies.htm

 

[saturdaysun]

I'm happy for Karen but I do wish they would send Amber if only so she'd get more mileage on that triple axel. Of course, if there is no Worlds all this is moot but a good confidence booster for them both! I do hope they'll move Worlds to the fall or something rather than cancel outright. Vaccines seem to be getting to people faster than expected.

 

[happycamper2554]

Bradie is #2, Mariah is #14, Amber is #26 and Karen is #39

http://www.isuresults.com/ws/ws/wsladies.htm

Then Amber should have been sent. I assumed Karen had a large advantage, but clearly not.

 

[readernick]

I find this decision odd. I think Karen's coach is quite well liked in the USFS. Karen may do well at World's, but her URs will likely limit her total score to around 200. If they were going by body of work, Mariah would be the obvious choice, if going by highest potential score it would be Amber. I guess they went with" safest bet?" But, it seems an unfair choice to me.

 

[Lzbee]

I find this decision odd. I think Karen's coach is quite well liked in the USFS. Karen may do well at World's, but her URs will likely limit her total score to around 200. If they were going by body of work, Mariah would be the obvious choice, if going by highest potential score it would be Amber. I guess they went with" safest bet?" But, it seems an unfair choice to me.

Not counting 2020 Skate America, Karen's international PB is 201 (otherwise it's ~205) whereas Amber's is 190. I'm guessing this is what they mean by Karen being the safer choice.

There was only a difference of 0.35 points between silver and bronze at US nationals so they were practically equal there. It really could have gone either way imo.

Anyway, congrats to Karen for making it back on to the worlds team. Things seem to be looking up for her as she's popping jumps less now, hoping she can improve on the UR issue too.

And of course congrats to my girl Bradie who has been quietly holding up US skating since Ashley retired. Wishing them both clean performances at World's! (Assuming it happens...)

 

[TallyT]

Bradie is #2, Mariah is #14, Amber is #26 and Karen is #39

http://www.isuresults.com/ws/ws/wsladies.htm

Then Amber should have been sent. I assumed Karen had a large advantage, but clearly not.

With all due respect - and even as someone who has a fannish glee over three of the four standings lists - given the mess the last 12 months have made of so many skater's ability to train and compete, and the fact that said mess has been uneven and infairly spread, I think we have to recognise that it's not going to be that simple. They haven't had a chance to compete a lot this year (Rika, who is number 1, has only done so once last month!) but Karen's two outings have been good enough for her to get the nod.

After all, even if Worlds is held, it will be unlikely that that one lot of points will make a lot of difference to most of the skaters, and if it's not, they all go into 2022 in the same position.

 

[kirauza343]

World Standing isn’t a good metric here considering Karen took a year off after the Olympics which is why her ranking is lower.

 

[Mathman]

I am surprised. I thought they would go with Amber, on principle. I am always a little bit uncomfortable about leaving these decisions in the hands of THE COMMITTEE (bwa-ha-ha) instead of having a clear criterion involving head-to-head competition.

 

[ana]

Good luck Bradie and Karen!

 

[YuBluByMe]

Excellent decision and I’m not surprised at all. It’s exactly what I would have done had I been the one making the call. Glenn wouldn’t have been a bad choice, either, but the thing is...she could score 190....or 170. 3A or no, she’s not a top 10 skater. ...yet. She also has a tendency to implode under pressure. And there would be a lot of pressure on her to help get that third spot and she has very little international experience. Chen would at least keep her head about her and get in the top 10 even with UR calls. She just needs to be clean and she’s definitely more likely to do that than Glenn.

 

[ice coverage]

...They haven't had a chance to compete a lot this year ... but Karen's two outings have been good enough for her to get the nod. ...

Three events from the 2020-21 season are on the list of USFS selection criteria for 2021 Worlds:

- 2021 Nats
- 2020 GPs (in other words, Skate America)
- 2020 ISP Points Challenge​

Amber was ahead of Karen in two of the three.

But ... 2020 Four Continents and 2020 Nats also are selection criteria, and Karen was ahead for those.

My heart was with Amber, but Karen is a reasonable choice.
If Karen can place fourth thru tenth at Worlds, she will earn Team A, Tier 2 funding from USFS for the 2021-22 season. I wish that Amber could have the same opportunity. As the U.S. silver medalist (and first alternate for Worlds), Amber has earned Team B, Tier 1 funding for next season.

 

[katymay]

I find this decision odd. I think Karen's coach is quite well liked in the USFS. Karen may do well at World's, but her URs will likely limit her total score to around 200. If they were going by body of work, Mariah would be the obvious choice, if going by highest potential score it would be Amber. I guess they went with" safest bet?" But, it seems an unfair choice to me.

Well yeah, there have always been rumors that the relative clout of different coaches figure into these decisions, and I can't help but wonder if there is anything to that. I also think it is unfair. I actually wouldn't have been surprised to see Mariah named, as she seems to do well with International judges. Amber is the only one of the three that actually rotates her jumps, something the international judges seem to be really cracking down on. (UR's). As lovely as Karen's skating is, there is no difference in her technical arsenal now as in the past four years, and I don't see the results being any different. I would ask the USFSA to practice transparency, and release their decision making process. They owe that to Amber and for that matter-Mariah.