Skaters that you felt would never go to the Olympics but ended up going

[TallyT]

Nope. The only male skater that i've seen get more hate than Vincent is probably Morisi Kvitelashvili.

Good god, I can think of several off the top of my head who I would say have received more or at least more serious hate. Maybe I haven't been paying attention to Zhou?

Anyway back to the thread topic... at least Ashley and Mirai both made it there in the end

 

[Jontor]

Maria Sotskova. Clearly the third best Russian girl at the time (2018) was Tsurskaya, and unfortunately Tsurskaya had a tiny miss at Nationals and the judges decided to not hold her up (they could have!). Sotskova never did anything internationally though she had the chance a lot of times. But she always seemed to just miss out of those big medals. If Tsurskaya had gone to the Olympics instead, I think it could have been a Russian 1-2-3.

 

[cheerknithanson]

Nope. The only male skater that i've seen get more hate than Vincent is probably Morisi Kvitelashvili. That guy is very disliked on SM since he's 17yo. Many were saying that he was overscored and should have finished 3rd. That he should be the one whose spot should be in jeopardy.

I feel like Maxim Kovtun was up there in terms of male skaters that didn't get much....love.

 

[yume]

Maria Sotskova. Clearly the third best Russian girl at the time (2018) was Tsurskaya, and unfortunately Tsurskaya had a tiny miss at Nationals and the judges decided to not hold her up (they could have!). Sotskova never did anything internationally though she had the chance a lot of times. But she always seemed to just miss out of those big medals. If Tsurskaya had gone to the Olympics instead, I think it could have been a Russian 1-2-3.

I think that GPF silver in the olys season is something. She could have won an euro medal but what happened happened. Sotskova was usually consistent in the first part of the season. That + Buyanova's power at the time, is what got her the olys ticket.
And i think that fed didn't want three girls from the same team at olys and worlds. Otherwise they would have named Tsurskaya as 1st alternate and not Konstantinova (who ended going to both junior worlds and senior worlds. Bombing at both). And Tsurskaya would have gotten better scores in GPs if fed wanted to support her from the start.

I feel like Maxim Kovtun was up there in terms of male skaters that didn't get much....love.

Probably. I must say that i don't know much about Kovtun's lack of love.

 

[mikeko666]

>because Nakano's jumping technique was very disliked by ISU judges.
Can you elaborate, mikeko666? Just curious - I think Akiko's jumping technique was pretty sound, but she didn't have the hardest content. I don't remember Yukari's skating much.

Yukari Nakano Worlds 2008 FS german commentary

Yukari Nakano Worlds 2008 FS german commentary

youtu.be

It's easy to see why. Yukari had the worst case of wrapped leg that I've ever seen. It not only didn't look beautiful but also made her prone to underrotate.
She began skating under Machiko Yamada. While Ms. Yamada was good at helping little kids to learn how enjoyable skating is, she was never a good jump coach. Midori Ito admitted she also had slightly wrapped leg, but it didn't affect her scores because she competed in the 6.0 era and her jumps were HUGE! Many predicted Kanako Murakami would face difficulties when she hits puberty, and she actually did.
Yukari changed her coach from Ms. Yamada to Nobuo Sato later, and tried to fix her wrapped leg because her jumps were punished very harshly under IJS. She was a well-known hard worker but couldn't fix her leg. It was just too late.

2009 GPF FS Akiko Suzuki é´æ¨æå (ç¡è§£èªª no commentary)

2009 GPF FS,ììì 몸ì¼ë¡ í ì¤ ìë í copì²´ì ìì 보기ë문 ì¬ì±ì¤ì¼ì´í°.

youtu.be

Akiko was exactly the opposite case of Yukari. She lost her jumps along with her muscles when she developed anorexia in 2003. When she was recovering, ISU switched their judging system from 6.0 to IJS. Hiroshi Nagakubo reconstructed her jumping technique from the foundation to adapt to IJS, and she was one of the very few female skaters who grew up in 6.0 but rarely underrotated.
Mr. Nagakubo was the best jump coach in Japan at the time and possibly one of the best in the world. Akiko wasn't necessarily a natural born jumper, but he helped her landing 3T+3T for the first time at 26.

 

[Mathman]

I for one was a big fan of Larkyn Ausman. Her Mein Herr program was perfect for her skating style, plus she had the look that went with it. I was glad to see her get a chance at the big show.

 

[Sai Bon]

Yukari Nakano Worlds 2008 FS german commentary

Yukari Nakano Worlds 2008 FS german commentary

youtu.be

It's easy to see why. Yukari had the worst case of wrapped leg that I've ever seen. It not only didn't look beautiful but also made her prone to underrotate.
She began skating under Machiko Yamada. While Ms. Yamada was good at helping little kids to learn how enjoyable skating is, she was never a good jump coach. Midori Ito admitted she also had slightly wrapped leg, but it didn't affect her scores because she competed in the 6.0 error and her jumps were HUGE! Many predicted Kanako Murakami would face difficulties when she hits puberty, and she actually did.
Yukari changed her coach from Ms. Yamada to Nobuo Sato later, and tried to fix her wrapped leg because her jumps were punished very harshly under IJS. She was a hard worker but couldn't fix her leg. It was just too late.

2009 GPF FS Akiko Suzuki é´æ¨æå (ç¡è§£èªª no commentary)

2009 GPF FS,ììì 몸ì¼ë¡ í ì¤ ìë í copì²´ì ìì 보기ë문 ì¬ì±ì¤ì¼ì´í°.

youtu.be

Akiko was exactly the opposite case of Yukari. She lost her jumps along with her muscles when she developed anorexia in 2003. When she was recovering, ISU switched their judging system from 6.0 to IJS. Hiroshi Nagakubo reconstructed her jumping technique from the foundation to adapt to IJS, and she was one of the very few female skaters who grew up in 6.0 but rarely underrotated.
Mr. Nagakubo was the best jump coach in Japan at the time and possibly one of the best in the world. Akiko wasn't necessary a natural born jumper, but he helped her landing 3T+3T for the first time at 26.

I remember when Akiko landed her 3T+3T for the first time in competition. She jumped up and down like a little kid afterwards. She was an inspiration to me - not the most naturally talented skater, but such a lovely personality and so determined.

 

[4everchan]

For this guy, when I saw this program... It's not like I thought he would never make the Olympics... he was already at worlds from a country with very little opposition... but let's just say that I didn't think that he would become twice world champion and olympic bronze medalist... you gotta watch this from the first pop to the last spin crash to really understand the scope of his metamorphosis.

 

[macy]

For this guy, when I saw this program... It's not like I thought he would never make the Olympics... he was already at worlds from a country with very little opposition... but let's just say that I didn't think that he would become twice world champion and olympic bronze medalist... you gotta watch this from the first pop to the last spin crash to really understand the scope of his metamorphosis.

wow, his transformation as an athlete is really incredible. his career completely changed after he went to Orser.

 

[Warwick360]

Shocking. Especially when Austman was a skater unable to qualify for the free skate at both olys and worlds. I wonder if Chartrand bombed at nats because of an injury. If it's nerves, i don't understand since the only ones who were hard to beat were Osmond and Daleman, and there were three spots.

For me, it was a case of Chartrand being able to not take what was offered on the platter. I know she had a rough season that year, and I'm sorry if I am being blase to any other situation she might have had, but all the girl needed to do was execute some low level triples. Both Daleman and Osmond had made that route so easy for her. But it is what it was.

 

[4everchan]

Chartrand had her share of ankle problems but I don't remember if that was for these Nationals or previous ones. I don't think figure skaters would approach Nationals with the, "i only need to execute a couple easy triples and I am in" state of mind... They want to do well. They want to win it. They want to make a strong statement. It could also have been : if I am in top two, I may skate the team event and medaled at the Olympics" factor. We will never know for sure what happened... perhaps she doesn't even know herself... but yeah, she had had a very bad season prior to Nationals and everything fell apart in the SP for her. Larkyn optimised her low level triples and great presentation and was chosen...

 

[JustSomeGuy]

Honestly, as much as I am a fan, I never expected Roman Sadovsky to go to the Olympics. He's always been kind of a beautiful mess, without quite the scoring potential of our other beautiful mess Vincent Zhou, and I never expected Romsky to pull it together in an Olympic year, or for the whole Canadian men's field to just collapse, like a soufflé, at just the right time for Romsky to go to the Olympics.

 

[4everchan]

Honestly, as much as I am a fan, I never expected Roman Sadovsky to go to the Olympics. He's always been kind of a beautiful mess, without quite the scoring potential of our other beautiful mess Vincent Zhou, and I never expected Romsky to pull it together in an Olympic year, or for the whole Canadian men's field to just collapse, like a soufflé, at just the right time for Romsky to go to the Olympics.

Roman went to the Olympics??? Really? I am guessing my brain has blocked that from my memory. Poor Roman. I hope this year will be a good one for him.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

Roman went to the Olympics??? Really? I am guessing my brain has blocked that from my memory. Poor Roman. I hope this year will be a good one for him.

Well, if it's any consolation, depending on the outcome of a certain doping case he might end up with a medal, which is definitely not something I would ever have expected in a million years time.

 

[FlossieH]

Roman went to the Olympics??? Really? I am guessing my brain has blocked that from my memory. Poor Roman. I hope this year will be a good one for him.

Roman went to the Olympics and also unexpectedly found himself substituting for Keegan Messing in the team competition. Keegan got delayed for some reason - can't remember whether it was a positive Covid test before he was due to leave or if there was a problem with his skates on a transfer to where the team were meeting to fly out. He ended up travelling later than the rest of the Canadian team. I don't think being thrown into the team competition at short notice helped Roman.

 

[4everchan]

Roman went to the Olympics and also unexpectedly found himself substituting for Keegan Messing in the team competition. Keegan got delayed for some reason - can't remember whether it was a positive Covid test before he was due to leave or if there was a problem with his skates on a transfer to where the team were meeting to fly out. He ended up travelling later than the rest of the Canadian team. I don't think being thrown into the team competition at short notice helped Roman.

yup. I know. Keegan had a positive covid test and that meant that Roman was catapulted into the team event. It still doesn't matter because athletes are supposed to be ready to compete no matter what, and he simply couldn't cope, not only in the team event but also for his individual event.... and Nationals this year was a disaster. I wish Roman well. He is one of the rare men right now who have it all, big jumps (when landed) fabulous spins, great connection with music and audience... He unfortunately has also a case of really bad competitive spirit which needs to be addressed... unless he wants to end up in the other thread : skaters that never reached their full potential... One of my first figure skating crushes was Josée Chouinard... so I know what I am talking about... Talk about a skater who had it all but never could put it quite together... despite that, she won a couple GPs, a GPF medals and placed in top 5 at worlds.... if only Roman could get just even as close as Josée...

 

[JustSomeGuy]

yup. I know. Keegan had a positive covid test and that meant that Roman was catapulted into the team event. It still doesn't matter because athletes are supposed to be ready to compete no matter what, and he simply couldn't cope, not only in the team event but also for his individual event.... and Nationals this year was a disaster. I wish Roman well. He is one of the rare men right now who have it all, big jumps (when landed) fabulous spins, great connection with music and audience... He unfortunately has also a case of really bad competitive spirit which needs to be addressed... unlike he wants to end up in the other thread : skaters that never reached their full potential... One of my first figure skating crushes was Josée Chouinard... so I know what I am talking about... Talk about a skater who had it all but never could put it quite together... despite that, she won a couple GPs, a GPF medals and placed in top 5 at worlds.... if only Roman could get just even as close as Josée...

Lol, going off topic a bit here, but I really do think with Romsky that the issue is that he just can't handle pressure. You tend to see this with him on the Grand Prix, where he bombs the first one so badly that he has no chance to qualify for the final and then, since he has no chance to qualify and far less pressure, he does better at the second. Or he does well in one program and bombs the other, depending on how much pressure there is.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Fernandez had fast feet, inherent performance quality, and sex appeal from the very start. While being from a country with no real internal competition, and 3 years to improve. That 2007 program is one of his most pure performances, actually. He's very into the music, moving to his own rhythm, and trying to be beautiful. Look at the commitment to that ina bauer. Never again in his career does he hit such a willowy, vulnerable pose. It also helps that this was 2007, a time when footwork sequences still had actual shapes and purpose. Look at the presentation before the straight-line sequence! Classic.

 

[TeamGubanova]

Maria Sotskova. Clearly the third best Russian girl at the time (2018) was Tsurskaya, and unfortunately Tsurskaya had a tiny miss at Nationals and the judges decided to not hold her up (they could have!). Sotskova never did anything internationally though she had the chance a lot of times. But she always seemed to just miss out of those big medals. If Tsurskaya had gone to the Olympics instead, I think it could have been a Russian 1-2-3.

No, Sotskova made GPF while Tsurskaya didn't and Sotskova had a higher PB going in. Tsurskaya also would never get a russia 1-2-3; even her score at NHK wouldn't of been in the Top 5 at Olympics and she wasn't rly that consistent

 

[Warwick360]

Chartrand had her share of ankle problems but I don't remember if that was for these Nationals or previous ones. I don't think figure skaters would approach Nationals with the, "i only need to execute a couple easy triples and I am in" state of mind... They want to do well. They want to win it. They want to make a strong statement. It could also have been : if I am in top two, I may skate the team event and medaled at the Olympics" factor. We will never know for sure what happened... perhaps she doesn't even know herself... but yeah, she had had a very bad season prior to Nationals and everything fell apart in the SP for her. Larkyn optimised her low level triples and great presentation and was chosen...

I strongly disagree. Look at it this way. Even Yuna, who was pretty much competent with all the triples (sans triple Axel) took her triple loop out when she knew that she would probably not have great luck with it.

Same with Katarina Witt at 1988 Olympics LP and to a point, similar with Hanyu at CoC 2014 when he had to re-strategise his whole program.

As much as we try to paint a picture of skaters or athletes aiming and needing to give it their all, personally I think understating the need for strategic/tactical approach overlooks how important that aspect is, being just as important if not more.

And yes, I still feel if she had done those lower level triples clean and gone clean, Larkyn did not have much in her arsenal to challenge that.