Zhou very literally did have a nationals disaster. He barely rotated a single jump in the FS (even if there is a blind/subjective tech panel).
And honestly, Jason is one of my favourite skaters. He really is. But reality is, Olympic figure skating is a sport. They should put their chips behind those with most potential of medalling.
Everybody says Ilia can go in 2026. But what if he can't? They have this young talented skater jumping multiple quads at nationals. It'd be good to send him to olympics firstly to get the experience for 2026, and secondly as he has huge scoring potential for 2022 in a field of inconsistent men. And with injuries, there is no guarantees.
Feds should always put their chips behind talented skaters. It's olympics - nothing is on the line. They won't risk worlds/europeans/olympics spots from their decision. Everything to gain, and nothing to lose. Send skaters who are gonna be in it for the top places, even if they might bomb.
Quads aren't the be all and end all, but as I said before: it's a sport. You can watch videos of somebody's clean sp anytime and enjoy it, but that doesn't make them a competitive skater when lacking typical technical arsenol. If it were a performing art it'd be about shows, but this is about real competition.
Yes, Jason is one of the best artists to grace the ice. And yes hes one of the best spinners (although recently he's made me question that along with all TCC skaters training in Canada who clearly aren't spending enough time on spins). But at same time, he will have a maximum cap that is much lower than Ilia because of the lack of the tech arsenal.
I love Jason as I've said before, and I mean no insult to him whatsoever, but I think USfed made wrong decision with Ilia.
Unfortunately they boxed themselves in with the selection criteria and had to send Vincent, who had the weakest free skate by a long shot.
Regarding Jason and this being a sport and all, below is what I posted in the Olympic selection thread at post 645:
Yup, I totally agree that Zhou should have been 4th with proper tech calling. But given he did 5 quads to Browns zero quads, and all else considered, it's not the most egregious result for him to edge out Brown. Brown's PCS was also pretty sky high which kept him in top 3 contention, and some favourable tech/GOE calls for him too.
I know others disagree, but a quadless SP getting 49 PCS isn't right. Then again, Kamila's quad-filled FS getting 79 PCS wasn't right either.
Yes, nobody can do the Sinnerman SP other than Brown, but he has zero quads to two quads by Chen/Zhou/Malinin, so there is a stark difference in difficulty. I know people want to give Brown all the PCS and hold down his quadding rivals to make up for this deficiency but IMO a short program with 0 quads, no matter how intricate it is, is not on par with a program that has 2 quads (let alone quad lutzes). Chen literally did the same jump layout as Brown but added an extra rotation to the flip and the lutz.
If most skaters did 3Z+2T, 3F, 2A, and then one did 2Z+2T, 2F, 2A, there would be no question the latter would be buried not just technically but artistically as well for a performance that featured comparatively easier jumps.
You are generally a reasonable person, but I totally disagree with your point of view, and I’m gonna make the same kind of response here that I would make in court:
Below is a link to the criteria for PCS. There is nothing in it that ties program components to quads. Nothing. The ISU was perfectly capable of specifying that programs without quads are capped in PCS if that’s what they wanted to do, but they did not. If you think that a change should be made to PCS criteria you can certainly lobby for it, but right now that cap doesn’t exist. Quads are supposed to be rewarded through higher base values and proportionately higher GOE when they’re well executed. The fact that judges frequently throw high PCS and GOE like candy at quad jumpers may be reflective of their personal preferences, but it is not based on anything in the rules.
One more thing, and this is directed broadly, not just to you. I’ve been trying really hard not to respond to all the comments here and elsewhere repeatedly dissing Jason for not having mastered a quad and bemoaning the fact he was selected over Ilia.
If you read the article El Henry linked in one of her comments above, you’ll see it’s not for lack of trying that he hasn’t mastered quads.
Within a given sport, every athlete has different strengths and weaknesses. I have never heard anyone criticize a star wide receiver for not having the accurate arm of a star quarterback. It’s acknowledged that they both have contributions to make, and that they play the positions best suited to their strengths. It’s the same in music: some musicians excel in one area or one kind of repertoire but not another. They aren’t criticized for it; indeed, it’s widely accepted.
Yet in skating, Jason is criticized essentially because he’s not Nathan Chen. Everyone has likes and dislikes and it’s perfectly normal. But the inability to acknowledge differences and to value different talents is a huge problem as far as I’m concerned. Jason is not just a “beautiful” skater who’s second rate because he hasn’t mastered quads. He’s a superb athlete whose programs are incredibly technically challenging without quads. I’m not aware of any other skater currently competing who could perform his Sinnerman program. According to his choreographer, Rohene Ward, the program is so taxing that he breathes a sigh of relief every time he gets through it. Regardless of whether you like Jason’s kind of skating, he is not a second rate athlete. He’s just a different one.