Men OGM Contenders 2018

[mrfarmer]

As with the ladies, let's start theorizing early! (Let's assume these people will be sent to the Olympics by their Feds because most of them will be)

Yuzuru Hanyu: Current World champion and reigning OGM. Two clean programs and he's unbeatable.

Javier Fernandez: Two-time World champion. Always a threat.

Patrick Chan: Three-time World champion and Mr. PCS. Can he end the Canadian curse for men?

Shoma Uno: Current World's silver medallist, Mr. Knees. A blend of organic feel for the music, speed across the ice and fair technical talent.

Nathan Chen: Mr. Quad Jump. He's scary consistent with his quads, and has the ability to become truly artistic. Will he pull an upset victory?

The Others: Boyang Jin, Jason Brown, Mikhail Kolyada, Maxim Kovtun, Denis Ten

 

[karne]

Uhhhhhhhhh...I would question whether anybody who puts Denis Ten on this list has been watching figure skating this season. Or last season, for that matter.

And Kovtun definitely does not belong in the same group as Boyang Jin. Jin and Chen go in the same group.

 

[Seren]

All I want is a Yuzu repeat. I didn't get the repeat I wanted in Sochi so I feel I'm owed this (I'm joking! The best skater of the night should win!)

In all seriousness- when Yuzu is perfect he is unbeatable. But he isn't always perfect- in that case any of Javi, Patrick, Nathan, or Uno could win it. Maybe even Boyang, I wrote him off 2 years ago (my mistake) and if he continues developing I could see it happening.

Either way, it's going to be good. I think I'm most excited for the men this year!

 

[mrfarmer]

All I want is a Yuzu repeat. I didn't get the repeat I wanted in Sochi so I feel I'm owed this (I'm joking! The best skater of the night should win!)

In all seriousness- when Yuzu is perfect he is unbeatable. But he isn't always perfect- in that case any of Javi, Patrick, Nathan, or Uno could win it. Maybe even Boyang, I wrote him off 2 years ago (my mistake) and if he continues developing I could see it happening.

Either way, it's going to be good. I think I'm most excited for the men this year!

Let's not open the can of worms that's Sochi. Because we know who won, then. That's the beauty and curse of this sport. There's always going to be unfair judging.

Even when Hanyu is not perfect, he can still win it, I believe, provided the other guys have some mistakes too. But if one of these guys: Uno, Chen, Fernandez, maybe Chan, goes technically clean, Hanyu needs to be perfect to get the gold.

 

[frida80]

I think this is going to be one of the most exciting OG men's competitions. It's not just between two men but six men who all could be on the podium in any order. All of them have really pushed skating to the next level. I know I'm going to be glued to my seat... sigh bed, in the middle of the night... I won't be getting any sleep obviously. But I cant wait for the men's event.

 

[brens78]

This is the final I have to see next year! Anything could happen which makes it exciting, I'm going for Javi tho as long as he medals, I'll be happy

 

[mrfarmer]

This is the final I have to see next year! Anything could happen which makes it exciting, I'm going for Javi tho as long as he medals, I'll be happy

Javi is in contention for sure. He's a shoe in as Spain's rep already. He needs to be healthy all throughout this season though. All the guys actually.

 

[MaiKatze]

My personal wish is a clean competition and not Splatfest ála the competition that shall not be named. I'm okay with any outcome, may the best one win. (Would love to see Shoma podium - a silver or bronze at the Olympics would be fantastic)

I think, it's the nature of the game that it will come down, once again, to nerves. And that's where I see slight advantages for Nathan, Boyang and Shoma. The stakes aren't as high for them = less fear? But other than that, anything could happen. They could be intimidated as well, and the veterans get the upper hand. It will be fun, no matter what. I think out of the top 6 at least one will be clean.

 

[brens78]

If Boyang medals, oh the pressure will be on him for 2022 in Beijing big time!

 

[xeyra]

I wonder if we'll manage to have even one person going completely clean in both SP and FS. We're likely to have a mixture of people who go clean in the SP and then make mistakes in the FS or people who don't do as well in the SP and then come back in the FS. Also, there are levels of clean. We can have all positive GOE clean or everything landed but some negative GOEs 'clean'. I expect more of the latter at the Olympics, especially with the BV upgrades that may be coming to men. Either way, whoever goes the 'cleanest' in both segments and has a good BV to back it up will likely win, because it's such a tight race at the top. It's going to be both an exciting and nerve wrecking competition, which I will likely be sleeping through because timezones....

 

[Sam L]

I would love to see Patrick win.

 

[Miller]

The Big 6 i.e. final group at this year's Worlds, plus I wouldn't rule out Vincent Zhou given how much Nathan Chen improved this last year.

 

[yume]

Hanyu, Uno, Jin, Chen, Fernandez, Chan. All of them can win, with a small advantage for Hanyu. Zhou and Cha can also make a good result.

 

[TerpsichoreFS]

It's interesting how so many just jump right in saying yuzuru is the favorite, overwhelmingly. I don't see it that way. I wonder what part of that is genuine and what part is a way to keep the heat away from their favorite.

 

[MaiKatze]

Isn't the World Champion always the favourite? And he's the one who did get the highest marks. He doesn't have his name on the Gold, like Medvedeva has, but if there is a favourite - it is him. He just cannot afford to pop his jumps.

I have a slight tendency thinking Nathan Chen for OGM, he is secure and his tech is insane, one more senior season means better PCS, too - I just hope that he won't retire immediately if he wins, as that's always a bit disappointing to see.

 

[Marin]

Isn't the World Champion always the favourite? And he's the one who did get the highest marks. He doesn't have his name on the Gold, like Medvedeva has, but if there is a favourite - it is him. He just cannot afford to pop his jumps.

I have a slight tendency thinking Nathan Chen for OGM, he is secure and his tech is insane, one more senior season means better PCS, too - I just hope that he won't retire immediately if he wins, as that's always a bit disappointing to see.

Sadly I am almost sure that if Nathan gets OG he will retire and apply to Harvard. From his interviews it seems his main goal is studies. In most of the cases when winning Olympics happens before other Major titles, it ends up with retirement. Personally I prefer a la Yuzuru, Virtue/Moir, Yuna to Hughes and Sotnikova ways.

I do think Yuzuru has edge over others if he goes clean or with a small mistake. But if its gonna be a splatfast like Sochi, the one who bombs the least will win from top 6.

 

[Anyasnake]

If everyone is clean, Yuzuru wins for sure and I think Shoma will come 2nd, or Chen if he improves his PCS. But then you have Javi, crowd favourite and Chan best PCS.
And guys, DO NOT put Boyang out of the medal contention EVER AGAIN. If one can keep it together by february, it might be him, he grabbed World bronze twice in a row.

The pressure might be gigantic this time : Repeat for Yuzuru, since Japan loves Figure skating so much add Shoma, Medal for Javi in order for Spain to write itself into the skating world even more, Canada's only shot for a men's medal on Chan, the US champion will have to deliver big time...

WELL.

 

[Tulipstar]

I'm starting to think more and more it might be Boyang Jin.

 

[Rissa]

It's interesting how so many just jump right in saying yuzuru is the favorite, overwhelmingly. I don't see it that way. I wonder what part of that is genuine and what part is a way to keep the heat away from their favorite.

He's the favourite because none of the other guys is as much of a favourite as him. Simple.

 

[MaiKatze]

If everyone is clean, Yuzuru wins for sure and I think Shoma will come 2nd, or Chen if he improves his PCS. But then you have Javi, crowd favourite and Chan best PCS.
And guys, DO NOT put Boyang out of the medal contention EVER AGAIN. If one can keep it together by february, it might be him, he grabbed World bronze twice in a row.

The pressure might be gigantic this time : Repeat for Yuzuru, since Japan loves Figure skating so much add Shoma, Medal for Javi in order for Spain to write itself into the skating world even more, Canada's only shot for a men's medal on Chan, the US champion will have to deliver big time...

WELL.

Excitement wise the Men's competition is THE event at the Olympic Figure Skating competition. Ladies, Pairs and Dance are all somehow predictable, but here so much can happen to shuffle them all around. Even a 20 point lead in the short program (and I don't think anyone will have that) can be destroyed in the long. It's going to be a really exciting time. I'm getting nervous about watching this competition already. And you can bet I will get up in the middle of the night for it.