US skaters with Byes to Nationals 2013

[5Ali3]

If I remember correctly, there is currently a bye that is specific to gold medalists from the last Winter Olympic Games (In other words, it was written to allow Lysacek a bye even though he hasn't competed since 2010.)

The USFSA did not re-write its rules to provide Lysacek a bye into nationals. In fact, USFSA does not have a bye to nationals that is "specific" to Olympic Gold Medalist. However, the USFSA does provide a bye for winning a medal at the most recent Olympic Winter Games (Winners of a medal at the previous year's World Championships also get byes into Nationals)

The rule that allowed Sasha Cohen to receive a bye to Nationals was instituted for the 2009-10 season.

I think of it as the "Brian Boitano Rule," instituted in 1993 to give reinstating Olympians a bye to 1994 Nationals.

[SkateFan66]

I think of it as the "Brian Boitano Rule," instituted in 1993 to give reinstating Olympians a bye to 1994 Nationals.

The rule gives a bye to an Olympic medalist from the 'most recent' Olympic games. Boitano won an Olympic gold medal in 1988. He did not compete at the 1992 Olympics. Therefore, in 1994, Boitano was not an Olympic medalist from the 'most recent' Olympic games.

[LilJen]

So, Mahbanoozadeh doesn't compete again until Nationals? Really, USFS. GIVE THE GUY A SR B!!!

[Sylvia]

Armin M. did receive a second Senior B (Ice Challenge)... ETA: I've bumped up and updated the U.S. Men's thread in GSD.

[SkateFan66]

So, Mahbanoozadeh doesn't compete again until Nationals? Really, USFS. GIVE THE GUY A SR B!!!

Armin is scheduled to compete at the Ice Challenge in Graz, Austria, November 6-11. ;-)

[LilJen]

Oh, good!! Glad to hear that.

[haribobo]

Congrats to Angela Wang, Hannah Miller, Jason Brown, Josh Farris, and Aldridge/Eaton for making JGPF and getting byes to Nationals!

Now we wait to see what happens with Keiser and Cesario next week...

[5Ali3]

The rule gives a bye to an Olympic medalist from the 'most recent' Olympic games. Boitano won an Olympic gold medal in 1988. He did not compete at the 1992 Olympics. Therefore, in 1994, Boitano was not an Olympic medalist from the 'most recent' Olympic games.

The rule has undergone revision over the years, and may even have been removed for a few seasons (forgive me for not looking through 20 years of records to determine exactly when and how); its initial conception was related to expected return of Boitano and Yamaguchi. My point was simply that different people ascribe the origin of the rule to different skaters.

[Sylvia]

Congrats to Angela Wang, Hannah Miller, Jason Brown, Josh Farris, and Aldridge/Eaton for making JGPF and getting byes to Nationals!

Now we wait to see what happens with Keiser and Cesario next week...

Keiser also qualified for the JGP Final , but Cesario had to WD from the JGP in Germany due to a hamstring injury so she will compete at Easterns next month.

ETA:
Cross-posting this relevant question/answer from the U.S. Regionals thread in Kiss and Cry:

When did Courtney Hicks get a bye [through SWP Regionals]? ... I don't remember USFS being so generous in the past with giving byes through Regionals unless the JGPs were within 7-10 days. Hicks competed on the 29th and Senior Ladies isn't until the 15th.

The chair of the Competitions Committee has the authority to grant byes to singles skaters who have received 2 JGP assignments regardless of their respective Regionals dates -- this happened a few years ago and seems to be in effect this year for Hicks, and I assume, Angela Wang (CP) as well.

[Sylvia]

To summarize all the known byes to 2013 Nationals:

Senior Men (9 or 10): Abbott, Rippon, Miner, Mahbanoozadeh, Razzano; Dornbush, Weir, Brown, Farris and Lysacek if he competes at Nationals.

Senior Ladies (10): Wagner, Czisny, Zawadzki, Zhang, Gao; Nagasu, Gold, Wang, Miller, Keiser

Senior Pairs (7 at least): Denney/Coughlin, Donlan/Speroff, Castelli/Shnapir; Vise/Baldwin, Davis/Ladwig, Yankowskas/Reagan, H. Denney/Frazier (and any other team that has elected not to compete at Sectionals due to 4 or fewer registered)

Senior Dance (6 at least): Davis/White, Shibutanis, M. Hubbell/Donohue, Kriengkrairut/Giulietti-Schmitt, Chock/Bates, Olson/K. Hubbell

Junior Dance (1): Aldridge/Eaton
Junior Pairs (1 known to date): Simpson/Blackmer (due to 4 or fewer teams registered at Mids)

[Sylvia]

For those interested, here are the relevant rules pertaining to byes to Nationals as published in the current USFS rulebook online:

2514 No medical byes will be granted.

2515 Other byes will be given only to those skaters who have a conflict with an
international competition.

2516 A competitor will automatically receive a bye to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships from the chair of the Competitions Committee if all of the criteria below are met:
A. The competitor is a member of the United States Figure Skating Team as
defined in ICR 4.01;
B. The competitor is assigned to and competes in a singles, pairs and/or ice
dance event in an international competition; and
C. The competition mentioned in (B) conflicts with the competitor’s sectional
championships.
D. Furthermore, to receive a bye in a singles event:
1. The competitor must place in the top four at his/her regional championship;
a. Such byed competitors would not displace competitors who would have otherwise placed in the top four at their regional championship. In this situation, more than four competitors would qualify for the appropriate sectional championships.
2. And, if competing internationally in a pair and/or ice dance event, the competitor must also have competed at the previous year’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships in a singles event.

2517 For all championship (senior) events, the following competitors will receive an automatic invitation to the same event. At least 60 days prior to the competition, the skater must submit a signed Statement of Intent, which will be provided by U.S. Figure Skating Headquarters to all skaters qualified under this rule:
A. A competitor or couple placing in the top five at last year’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships;
B. A competitor or couple who won a medal at the most recent Olympic Winter Games;
C. A competitor or couple who won a medal at the most recent World Championships.

2518 Entries granted under rules 2516 and 2517 are in addition to entries qualified through the normal competition process. There will not be any replacements should any of the competitors invited per rule 2517 decline their invitation.

2519 If any of these place winners or medalists in rule 2517 elects to enter the same event at a sectional championship, senior competitors must place in the top five, and junior and novice competitors must place in the top four to qualify for the next higher competition. These place winners or medalists are in addition to the competitors qualifying under rule 2511.

2520 If a senior skater who did not place in the top five at the previous U.S. Figure Skating Championships earns a berth in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final or the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, the skater will receive a bye to the current U.S. Figure Skating Championships only in the discipline in which they have earned the berth.
A. In the case of a senior skater, the number of skaters qualifying to U.S. Figure Skating Championships would be four from each sectional championship, plus the skaters who placed in the top five at the previous U.S. Figure Skating Championships, plus the skater(s) who earned a berth in the Grand Prix Final and the Junior Grand Prix Final, plus the skaters who meet the requirements of rule 2517 (B) or (C).

2521 A junior skater who earns a berth in either the Grand Prix Final or the Junior Grand Prix Final will receive a bye to the current U.S. Championships only in the discipline in which they earned the berth.
A. In the case of a junior skater, the number of skaters qualifying in the junior events at the U.S. Championships would be four from each sectional championship plus the skater(s) who earned a berth in the Grand Prix Final and the Junior Grand Prix Final.

[kwanfan1818]

Reposting from the US Pairs Thread:

To summarize, and please, correct me where I'm wrong, the bye rules are:

• The top five skaters/teams at Nationals get a bye to Nationals the next year.
• For singles, if a skater is assigned to two GP's, that skater gets a bye to Sectionals.
• If a skater/team is assigned to an international competition within a certain time range of Regionals (singles) or Sectionals (singles and teams) and doesn't already have a bye, the skater/team is given a bye if they travel to and begin the international competition (by precedent).
  
  Is that two weeks +/- the international competition?
• If a skater/team without a bye checks off on the Nationals application that it won't compete at Sectionals (singles and teams) if there are less than four signed up, and less than four sign up, that skater/team has a bye to Nationals.
  
  Does this apply to Regionals as well, moving the skater automatically to Sectionals?
  Is it less than four or <+ four?
• If a skater/team without a bye checks off on the Nationals application that it will compete at Sectionals (singles and teams) if there are less than four signed up, and that team is the only one who signs up, then the skater/team has the option of skating or performing in the exhibition and receiving a bye to Nationals.

If a skater doesn't have a bye for Regionals (singles) or Sectionals (singles and teams), the skater must compete at the qualifying competition and place high enough, or that skater can't compete at the next level.

Do all of the number of participant rules apply to all disciplines, even if they rarely or never happen? Do these apply equally to Juniors competing at international competitions, whether they're in enrolled in Junior or Senior competitions? Do any of the Juniors get a bye to Senior Nationals based on placement at Junior Nationals, if they move up?

[Sylvia]

For singles, if a skater is assigned to two GP's, that skater gets a bye to Sectionals.

It is my understanding that the current Chair of USFS' Competitions Committee must sign off on this each season because it's not a rule that's published in the USFS rule book.

If a skater/team is assigned to an international competition within a certain time range of Regionals (singles) or Sectionals (singles and teams) and doesn't already have a bye, the skater/team is given a bye if they travel to and begin the international competition (by precedent).

Is that two weeks +/- the international competition?

AFAIK the time frame is currently not specified in writing, but in the past it's usually been 7 days for international competitions in North America/Europe and ~10 days for competitions in Asia.

Every year the Team USA skaters and coaches are sent an International Competition Byes document that specifies which internationals (JGP, Sr. B, Senior Grand Prix) give byes through Regionals and Sectionals. Cup of China, Rostelecom Cup, and TEB were the 3 GPs this year that gave byes through Sectionals to Nationals.

[Sylvia]

Re-posting this exchange from another thread and replying in this relevant one:

I'm on the fence about medical byes in general, but I would definitely let any skater who qualified for the JGP final keep their bye even if they couldn't compete due to injury.

Can you imagine Farris or Brown not qualifying for nationals because they had the flu or some short term injury during the JGP final? Ridiculous!

ETA: I guess I'm not thinking of it as a medical bye. I think they've earned it by virtue of qualifying for the final and it shouldn't matter if they actually compete there or not. No one is going to skip it to game the system.

Kiri Baga qualified for the JGP Final in 2010 and withdrew due to injury but kept her bye to 2011 Nationals (she ended up withdrawing later anyway).

That's good to know. Do you know if it's official policy?

Yes, see USFS Rulebook rules 2520-2521 quoted above.

[muffinbiscuit]

Is Nathan Chen competing at Nationals as a Junior or Senior? I thought yo had to move up if you win at a certain level?

[Sylvia]

Is Nathan Chen competing at Nationals as a Junior or Senior?

Junior.

I thought yo had to move up if you win at a certain level?

No, it's not a rule. 2012 U.S. dance champs Alexandra Aldridge/Daniel Eaton are also staying Junior in the U.S. this season. Nathan Chen won consecutive Novice titles in 2010 & 2011.

My unofficial list of 2013 Nationals qualifiers and skaters with known byes: http://unseenskaters.wordpress.com/nationals/

[Sylvia]

Here's USFS' official list of 2013 Nationals qualifiers, by name and club, from Juvenile to Senior: http://www.usfsa.org/content/events/...qualifiers.pdf

To summarize all the byes to 2013 Nationals, Novice to Senior:

Senior Men (10): Abbott, Rippon, Miner, Mahbanoozadeh, Razzano; Dornbush, Weir, Brown, Farris, Lysacek

Senior Ladies (10): Wagner, Czisny, Zawadzki, Zhang, Gao; Nagasu, Gold, Wang, Miller, Keiser

Senior Pairs (7): Denney/Coughlin, Donlan/Speroff, Castelli/Shnapir; Vise/Baldwin, Davis/Ladwig, Yankowskas/Reagan, H. Denney/Frazier

Senior Dance (7): Davis/White, Shibutanis, M. Hubbell/Donohue, Kriengkrairut/Giulietti-Schmitt, Chock/Bates; Olson/K. Hubbell, Taylor Tran/Sam Kaplun (they skated an exhibition at Pacs)

Junior Dance (1): Aldridge/Eaton
Junior Pairs (1): Simpson/Blackmer (due to 4 or fewer teams registered at Mids)
Novice Pairs (1): Lianna Thomas/David Botero (due to 4 or fewer teams registered at Pacs)

ETA: There were also 2 byes in Intermediate Pairs at Mids:
Annaliyse Bowden (Dallas FSC)/Johnathon Chang (Dallas FSC) -
Reaghn Yack (Silver Blades FSC Inc. of Greater KC)/Kristofer Ogren (Kansas City FSC)

[Skittl1321]

I thought yo had to move up if you win at a certain level?

This is probably the block of rules you are thinking of:

2430 Previous Winners – Regionals/Sectionals/Nationals
2431 Winners of junior and novice events at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships may compete at the same level the following season; however, if they choose to do so, they must bypass regionals and begin competing at their sectional championship. Prior year (singles) winners moving up one or more levels must start at a regional championship.
2432 Previous winners of events at regional championships must compete at regionals again to qualify for the sectional championships, unless otherwise qualified under rule 2472.
160
2433 Previous winners of the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships are not eligible to compete again at the same level.
A. Either partner of a pair or ice dance couple may re-enter with a different partner if otherwise eligible.

So if you are below novice and go to junior nats, you do have to move up if you want to compete again. If you are at regular nats, it sounds like you just get a bye through regions.

I do think that rule used to exist for novice-junior though.

[Sylvia]

Thanks for clarifying about juvenile/intermediate... it's nice to see someone else quoting the rule book for a change!

[gkelly]

So if you are below novice and go to junior nats, you do have to move up if you want to compete again. If you are at regular nats, it sounds like you just get a bye through regions.

They'll have to change the wording after this year, since juveniles and intermediates will be going to regular Nationals and not the Junior Nationals from now on.

Probably they will continue to require the national winners at those levels to move up, in which case Skittl1321's paraphrase would not be accurate. We shall see...