Possible alternative nationalities in singles skating

[jolen]

LOL, Canada has at least three dance couples who would disagree that Gilles/Poirier are "guaranteed" to receive the third Olympic spot. And after Poirier's injury (not a laughing matter), counting G/P's chickens before they hatch makes even less sense.

Alexe Gilles surely cannot have any expectation that Canada ever would give her an Olympic spot for ladies unless she earns it fair and square.

LOL. Golden, you are absolutely correct I should have placed quotation marks on guaranteed in my post. I know my hopes are with Paul/Islam. But you must admit, at least initially, it looked like a G/P slam - dunk, and everyone seemed to be operating on that premise without regard for "fair and square".

In any case, I would definitely like to see a competition for that spot.

 

[chuckm]

I don't see Alexe Gilles EVER qualifying to represent Canada at Worlds/Olympics; I doubt she would ever be in a GP event. She no longer has the lutz she had when she won the US Junior Championship. At Canadian Nationals 2013, she finished 13th. In the SP, she landed 3t+2t, 3lo, and fell on the 2a; in the FS, she fell on the 3lo, and landed just two triples--both 3ts--and doubled all the other jumps. In the US, she wouldn't even qualify for Novice Nationals with that jump repertoire.

 

[Skater Boy]

I don't think Gilles can make the Canadian team at this point (singles). Yes her repoertoire is weak - a bit of an exaggeration she wouldn't make the US novice - come on folks. For years Canada's ladies were joked about compared to the us ladies and even without Rochette they don't do all that bad against the American ladies. It's not like canada doesn't have a top ten lady. That being said there are two Canadian spots. And Rochette seems to be not returning so... who gets spot no. 2 assuming Osmond gets one spot.

 

[chuckm]

The lowest-rank lady at US Novice Nationals landed a 3z. All the Novice ladies had either 3z or 3f or both. The Novice champion had 3z, 3lo, 3s, 3t and a 2a^2a sequence. Sorry, but Gilles wouldn't be competitive with those girls. She wouldn't have made it out of Sectionals.

 

[moon]

There is an article in the sports section of The Toronto Star newspaper about G/P citizenship issues. The reader comments after the article sound like one of our typical conversations. I guess this topic stirs up a lot of opinions no matter who you are.

 

[jolen]

There is an article in the sports section of The Toronto Star newspaper about G/P citizenship issues. The reader comments after the article sound like one of our typical conversations. I guess this topic stirs up a lot of opinions no matter who you are.

She seems to be extremely conversant with methods ( and obviously has the means) to promote herself.

 

[chuckm]

The Gilles family obviously has lots of $$---at one time they were supporting two daughters and a son at the elite level.

 

[jolen]

The Gilles family obviously has lots of $$---at one time they were supporting two daughters and a son at the elite level.

And supporting them in the US which is more $$$$$$ than in Canada.

 

[silverlake22]

I don't think Gilles can make the Canadian team at this point (singles). Yes her repoertoire is weak - a bit of an exaggeration she wouldn't make the US novice - come on folks. For years Canada's ladies were joked about compared to the us ladies and even without Rochette they don't do all that bad against the American ladies. It's not like canada doesn't have a top ten lady. That being said there are two Canadian spots. And Rochette seems to be not returning so... who gets spot no. 2 assuming Osmond gets one spot.

Chartrand or Daleman. They both have 3lz and 3f and can do 3-3 combos, Daleman only does 3t-3t but Chartrand can do 3lz-3t and 3lz-1/2lo-3s. Certainly one of those two is likely to get the spot, or if not then Lacoste would be the most likely. My money is on Chartrand though, she's the strongest technically.

 

[silverlake22]

The lowest-rank lady at US Novice Nationals landed a 3z. All the Novice ladies had either 3z or 3f or both. The Novice champion had 3z, 3lo, 3s, 3t and a 2a^2a sequence. Sorry, but Gilles wouldn't be competitive with those girls. She wouldn't have made it out of Sectionals.

Maybe not this past year but the level at Nationals can vary a lot year to year. Kiri Baga and Hannah Miller both won the novice title at Nationals with only 3t and 3s. And actually the competition at the senior level is sometimes easier, Laney Diggs did all doubles at Nationals this year, Sophia Adams I think only has 2 triples and Morgan Bell 3 and they both qualified for Nationals at the senior level..

 

[chuckm]

Laney Diggs had finished 5th at Pacific Sectionals and was a last-minute substitute for Vanessa Lam (P1). Laney probably hadn't been practicing her programs much since Sectionals, since she assumed her season was over.

But the competition at Sectionals is easier at the Senior level, believe it or not, than at the Junior and Novice levels. The top 5 Senior ladies from the previous Nationals don't have to do Sectionals, and several of the top 10 Seniors don't do Sectionals because they've been scheduled for GP or "B" internationals that conflict with Sectional dates, or made the JGPF. This year, these included the top 5 from 2012 Nats (Wagner, Zawadzki, Gao, Zhang) plus Gold, Nagasu, Wang and Miller.

Pacific Sectionals was particularly weak this year---there was a big gap in ability after Lam and Hicks to Amanda Hofmann and Sophia Adams. Morgan Bell was the lowest-ranked lady from Midwest Sectionals.

OTOH, all the Juniors except those who made the JGPF have to do Sectionals, and there are no byes for Novice ladies.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

So, with Polina S switching to Israel, and now Ksenia Makarova possibly switching to America, are there any other possible moves amongst the Russian Ladies skaters?

CaroLiza_fan

 

[sky_fly20]

with 3A and a quad he could do well at least competing internationally for Georgia
Moris Kvitelashvili, a Georgian last name; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4wGgA-_SzI

also Nikol Gosviani needs to think of her future
she could do well too since Elene insn't good anymore

 

[silverlake22]

Anna Pogorilaya is likely of Ukranian origins given her last name (at first I thought it was Armenian, but then did some research and most with that surname are from Ukraine), so that could be a possible nationality switch if things don't pan out well in Russia in the future. Only competition there is Popova who is decent but not a huge threat.

Agree about Gosviani, and also Mazuraidze (sp?) Liubov Illusheshkina's old partner could represent Georgia as well, if he found a new partner there.

Jason Brown is Jewish, so he could likely skate for Israel if his chance doesn't arise in the US, though he seems to be doing well for now.

 

[chuckm]

Max Aaron is Jewish also. But I see little chance of either Jason or Max skating for Israel.

 

[karne]

I think we can safely say that Jason and Max are going to have plenty of opportunities to skate for Team USA and a country switch is not necessary.

 

[hanca]

Agree about Gosviani, and also Mazuraidze (sp?) Liubov Illusheshkina's old partner could represent Georgia as well, if he found a new partner there.

I don't think he needs to do that. Firstly, he already has a new partner and despite the short time they have been together, they placed fourth at their senior nationals, and secondly, after Volosozhar/Trankov and Kavaguti/Smirnov retire, they have a chance to be second or third Russian couple. So why changing if the Russian Federation will offer him more support than any other skating federation?

 

[MalloryArcher]

Anna Pogorilaya is likely of Ukranian origins given her last name (at first I thought it was Armenian, but then did some research and most with that surname are from Ukraine), so that could be a possible nationality switch if things don't pan out well in Russia in the future. Only competition there is Popova who is decent but not a huge threat.

Agree about Gosviani, and also Mazuraidze (sp?) Liubov Illusheshkina's old partner could represent Georgia as well, if he found a new partner there.

Jason Brown is Jewish, so he could likely skate for Israel if his chance doesn't arise in the US, though he seems to be doing well for now.

Just curious, is Gosviani of Georgian descent? I was very curious about her first name, it's quite unusual for Russia isn't it? Also, aren't Mazuraidze and Sikharulidze ect. Armenian names, not Georgian?

Also just thought I'd add to the old conversation about Russian skaters getting alternate nationalities to compete, this was supposed to be for the benefit of Let's Talk, but it looks like he/she got banned (called it!), but in case anyone else is interested, Germany had (although it may have changed) residency permits for those of German descent. One of Katarina Gerboldt's grandfathers was German so she might qualify. Is she still competing? She was in pairs, perhaps if she went to Germany they could find her a good German male partner, the Germans tend to develop better men than women pairs skaters these days, hence the need to look abroad for partners (eg Aliona).

 

[cassiem]

Just curious, is Gosviani of Georgian descent? I was very curious about her first name, it's quite unusual for Russia isn't it? Also, aren't Mazuraidze and Sikharulidze ect. Armenian names, not Georgian?

Also just thought I'd add to the old conversation about Russian skaters getting alternate nationalities to compete, this was supposed to be for the benefit of Let's Talk, but it looks like he/she got banned (called it!), but in case anyone else is interested, Germany had (although it may have changed) residency permits for those of German descent. One of Katarina Gerboldt's grandfathers was German so she might qualify. Is she still competing? She was in pairs, perhaps if she went to Germany they could find her a good German male partner, the Germans tend to develop better men than women pairs skaters these days, hence the need to look abroad for partners (eg Aliona).

Gerboldt is fairly tall (163 cm) for a pair skater so I'm not sure it would be easy for her to find another partner. In any case, she's still competing with Enbert - they won bronze at the Lombardia Trophy.

Here's a sample of Georgian names: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_Georgia

Georgian: -vili, -dze, -ani
Armenian: -yan -ian
Ukrainian: -enko, -uk (especially -chenko, -chuk).

 

[sky_fly20]

Gerboldt is fairly tall (163 cm) for a pair skater so I'm not sure it would be easy for her to find another partner. In any case, she's still competing with Enbert - they won bronze at the Lombardia Trophy.

Here's a sample of Georgian names: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_Georgia

Georgian: -vili, -dze, -ani
Armenian: -yan -ian
Ukrainian: -enko, -uk (especially -chenko, -chuk).

Georgia could potentially hit a jackpot here
Moris Kvitelashvili who won Senior Cup of Russia 4th series landing 2 quads in LP

http://fsrussia.ru/upl/results/1314/4etap/SEG008.HTM

question is will Russia release him if he decides to skate for Georgia
Georgia could be decent next quad if these skaters represent

Ladies: Nikol Gosviani
Men: Moris Kvitelashvili
Pairs: Nodari Maisuradze and partner