Figure Skating Thread (Olympic Spoilers/Discussion starting at post #16)

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It’s true only two disciplines can be split. Plus skaters submit their preferences for the team event. Karen Chen volunteered to do both events. Hubble/Donohue and Chock/Bates both volunteered to split. I don’t know what the men chose but splitting the men’s programs was the only reasonable option.
 
If you believe the twitter chatter, ROC was going to switch their dance team but losing to the US on the RD caused them to change their mind. 🤷‍♀️

And yes, each country have a max of six entries over the 8 events that make up the team competition. So for the US, who appear to prioritize medals for Nathan Chen, Zhou, and both dance pairs, that meant they could only pick one ladies entrant and one pair. Karen Chen came in 4th at worlds last year; a spot in the team competition means she’s almost certain to medal. The other options are Alyssa Liu who couldn’t compete at nationals because of Covid (and we’ll see if she lives up to her early junior promise) or Mariah Bell who’s best showing at worlds was 9th. In the absence of an obvious choice, I can see why they went with Chen. A nice reward for her finish last year that secured 3 spots for the US ladies here.
 
Will only Chen get a medal?

You’d think the other ladies would desperately want that team spot for a medal which they’re obviously not going to get in the singles.
 
Wish the score had been 15-0, but we take what we can.
 
Karen will be the only US lady with a medal. (And you are right that the other ladies must have wanted the team spot.)

I thought they would pick Mariah or Alyssa. The speculation has been that both Mariah and Alyssa have had symptomatic Covid in the last month and Alyssa had a coaching change in the last three months. So maybe the USFSA had some insider information that made them think Karen had a better shot. Alyssa also flew to China really late and has reportedly posted Insta live videos that could make one wonder about her mindframe going into the Olympics.
 
Well Anna was definitely supposed to do the free. What I’ve heard is that the coaches got into a fight over whether they should split men’s or pair’s, so they decided to not split any of the disciplines.
 
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Brandon Frazier had COVID, too, and that didn’t make a difference in the pairs selection. They could have gone with Ashley and Tim, the national champions, if COVID was a factor. Karen was apparently chosen right after Nationals for no reason.
 
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Alysa Liu’s dad is a Richard-Williams-wannabe without the coaching talent. He changed her coaches a couple months before nationals. I suspect he realized his daughter was en route to being an average 16 year old Olympian and not a megastar (what a tragedy!). She was noticeably less enthusiastic during her nationals short program and it’s not hard to see why. She needs to call the shots in her life but can’t do that until she’s older.
 
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Everything about Alyssa’s dad screams NOT GOOD.
 
I’m feeling sad that Canadian skater Roman Sadovsky is really struggling through the games. His skating is just really pretty, and he does these charming nerdy vlogs. He got subbed into the team competition last minute and seems to have carried that rough skate into his short program.
 
Because they never even considered the possibility. Short programs are pretty strict, which is why you see void elements sometimes. Women have to do a solo triple, a 3-3 or 3-2 or 2-3, and a double or triple Axel.
 
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Well, the first quad done by a man was in 1988. I’m not sure when they were first allowed in the men’s short. Curently, the short program required elements for men are a double or triple Axel, a solo triple or quad, and a 3-2, 3-3, 2-3, 4-3, 4-2, 3-4, or 2-4.

I guess to answer the question, either oversight or sexism?
 
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I mean, there hadn’t been many successful attempts of quads by women until Sasha Trusova came around as a junior. I don’t think figure skating is known for thinking ahead and leaving doors open. I’ve been a fan since 1994, longer than I have for gymnastics.
 
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I was a hardcore figure skating fan 20 years ago. Now, I’m more of a casual fan. Figure skating boards are lively and a time suck, so I dip in cautiously now only around Oct - March.
 
I figure the quad isn’t allowed in the ladies sp because it would give such an insurmountable advantage that there would be no excitement for the free program. Seeing someone bury the competition in the free is okay, seeing it done in the short might not appeal to the audience since there are lovely skaters who still can’t do a 3-3 reliably, much less a 4-3. And they do still want to encourage countries outside the top few to keep developing skaters, I think.

But that is just me assuming. Say what you will about the old 6.0 system and its many, many issues, but it did keep competitions close.
 
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