U.S. Men 2023-24 news & updates

[peibeck]

I think the ISU expects, due to where he finished in the top six, Jason does 2 GPs and potentially the final or nothing. He seems fine with doing a senior B and doing shows instead. If he indeed stays in through Milan maybe he'll alter his plan to compete/train more that season. But I think he's listening to his body and trying to stay uninjured with over training.

 

[peibeck]

you better watch out torgy's rise to the top starts now

Oh dear, I've been saying that since he won junior nats...

 

[Rukia]

Oh dear, I've been saying that since he won junior nats...

ok but this year is really the year

if i say it enough it will happen right?

 

[Evgeniafan]

ok but this year is really the year

if i say it enough it will happen right?

Yes, because I want it too. And Naumov, too.

 

[Karen-W]

I know how the heart wants what the heart wants but... I don't see why your hearts should get what you want with regard to Torgy and Naumov when my heart can't get what it wants with regard to Jason, lol. Of course, I'm willing to accept that I won't get what I want on that front but that's only because I'm getting all that I want with Ilia and that's the larger tug on my heart, lol.

 

[Trillian]

I think the ISU expects, due to where he finished in the top six, Jason does 2 GPs and potentially the final or nothing. He seems fine with doing a senior B and doing shows instead. If he indeed stays in through Milan maybe he'll alter his plan to compete/train more that season. But I think he's listening to his body and trying to stay uninjured with over training.

I agree. Two (well-spaced) Challenger events instead of one might be a good middle ground - I’m not sure the GP is a great choice for him from a risk vs reward perspective at this point. After this past season, it does seem like a few less shows and a little more competitive mileage on his programs prior to nationals might put him in a better position going into the back half of the season. Assuming that’s his goal, anyway.

 

[AYS]

I think the ISU expects, due to where he finished in the top six, Jason does 2 GPs and potentially the final or nothing. He seems fine with doing a senior B and doing shows instead. If he indeed stays in through Milan maybe he'll alter his plan to compete/train more that season. But I think he's listening to his body and trying to stay uninjured with over training.

Yes, avoiding burnout, protecting an "aging" athlete's body, taking full advantage of his professional opportunities, and continuing to develop his career overall at 29 years old, all sort of point to not doing 2 GPs.

That said, I was really happy to see him quoted as saying he's going to take the time he needs to develop new material (where did I see that?). I think that's part of this journey he's on continuing to learn and develop as an artist and human being, and having to go back to an old program because he didn't have sufficient training time for the new program wasn't ideal.

This is all a bonus, as far as I'm concerned. I was sure we'd seen his last competitive performance in Beijing.

 

[peibeck]

ok but this year is really the year

if i say it enough it will happen right?

Global warming is bad enough without all those candles you're lighting. Maybe if you do a kind deed and free ANL's harem the skategods will have mercy on us?

 

[skatingguy]

you better watch out torgy's rise to the top starts now

I don't know whether or , so .

 

[Sylvia]

And now they can fix their mistake in the Malinin article that he was in 4th after the SP. Where are their fact checkers?

FWIW I tweeted the WaPo sports editor & the journalist... we'll see if it gets corrected.

"His short skate Thursday was clean but lacked the swagger of the past. He finished third that day and said later that he didn’t have enough energy."

 

[Rukia]

I don't know whether or , so .

if you can't be aggressively delusional during the off-season then when else can you

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

if you can't be aggressively delusional during the off-season then when else can you

That seems to be a perpetual state for some.

 

[skatingguy]

if you can't be aggressively delusional during the off-season then when else can you

Everyone's a World Champion in April.

 

[Debbie S]

This 100%. Ilia obviously isn’t artistic like Jason or Yuma or Shoma but he is a great performer. This was on display last night. Anyone who keeps saying he’s only winning because of the jumps needs to take the blinders off.

And anyone who says he can't perform needs to watch his gala performance. As noted upthread, he may not (yet) have the innate dance ability that Nathan had, but he can move. Shae-Lynn Bourne did a great job with his choreo, using his athleticism to enhance his presentation - raspberry twist, etc - rather than trying to turn him into a ballerina. He does need to work on his skating skills and add some more transitions and I'm sure he will be working on that, he and his team are clearly aware of his weaknesses, from his comments.

 

[peibeck]

DC news interview with Ilia:

x.com

twitter.com

 

[skateboy]

I hope that Jason picks a different song and type of song next season. I don't think he'll use this program for another season even though he hasn't competed with it that many times. I may be in the minority, but I liked the short program music.

Me too, I've liked most of Jason's SPs.

His LPs have a history of being not so great. When was his last really good LP? Riverdance? Maybe Schindler's List.

 

[Allskate]

Me too, I've liked most of Jason's SPs.

His LPs have a history of being not so great. When was his last really good LP? Riverdance? Maybe Schindler's List.

IMO, Schindler's List. But, wasn't that the last long program he did before Impossible Dream? Time for a new long program.

 

[zigzig]

Me too, I've liked most of Jason's SPs.

His LPs have a history of being not so great. When was his last really good LP? Riverdance? Maybe Schindler's List.

For me Scent of Love.

I actually would have liked to see him develop the Tarzan program cuz at least it would have felt different from the lyrical snot of the past few seasons (except 10th Ave which the idea of I actually loved for him - an old school Broadway dance fantasia - but just never really came together).

 

[Karen-W]

Ilia appeared on GMA this morning -

19-year-old figure skater breaks world record

American Ilia Malinin, who is nicknamed the “Quad God,” became the new men’s world figure skating champion with a routine that included six quad jumps.

www.goodmorningamerica.com

 

[Trillian]

For me Scent of Love.

I actually would have liked to see him develop the Tarzan program cuz at least it would have felt different from the lyrical snot of the past few seasons (except 10th Ave which the idea of I actually loved for him - an old school Broadway dance fantasia - but just never really came together).

I wouldn’t hate seeing him go back to Tarzan for next season. Slaughter on 10th Avenue was a great idea for him in theory and there were so many little moments in the choreography that I loved, but it seemed like he never connected enough with it to make it really come together.

I have a suspicion, based on a lot of his gala music and comments he’s made in interviews over the years - and I promise I still love him and I’m just going to duck and run away after I throw this out there - that Jason, when left entirely to his own devices, doesn’t have great taste in music.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

In defense of Josh Groban (but not Jason's recent music selections), The Impossible Dream is corny no matter who sings it.

As far as cheesy pieces of music go I kind of like this one. What can I say?

 

[Firedancer]

Ilia appeared on GMA this morning -

19-year-old figure skater breaks world record

American Ilia Malinin, who is nicknamed the “Quad God,” became the new men’s world figure skating champion with a routine that included six quad jumps.

www.goodmorningamerica.com

I’m happy to see Ilia getting some of the attention he deserves

 

[Jayar]

I should know this but I am being lazy-- doesn't the 'Body of Work' piece really kick in next season for 2026? Might that change Jason's early season approach?

 

[jlai]

I should know this but I am being lazy-- doesn't the 'Body of Work' piece really kick in next season for 2026? Might that change Jason's early season approach?

If he continues to medal at nationals and places too 10 at worlds I don’t think not having a gp hurts, unless we have potential top ten at world skaters that medal at the gp. Just my 2c

 

[Rukia]

If he continues to medal at nationals and places too 10 at worlds I think not having a gp hurts, unless we have potential top ten at world skaters that medal at the gp. Just my 2c

I'm in agreement with this. If we have someone who suddenly starts medaling at gps or something consistently this season then maybe Jason would have to worry, otherwise it's probably all moot (and even then we have 3 spots so probably they could afford to bow Jason in anyway).

 

[Karen-W]

The most important thing with regard to BOW as applied for the 2022 Olympics selection is having a high AVERAGE score. Showing up under-prepared at a Challenger and scoring 230-something is going go drag that average down and expose you to possibly slotting in behind a more inconsistent guy who manages to hit at one of their international assignments and thus bumps up their own average score.

 

[Trillian]

Does anyone really think USFS isn’t going to keep Jason in the loop as to what kind of international schedule will be expected of him to be considered for the Olympic team? They’re not going to get to January of 2026 and suddenly be like, “Bro, good job medaling at nationals, but we needed you to do the Grand Prix in 2024 and forgot to mention it. Our bad.”

Going to more international events only helps the other guys with “body of work” if they start posting higher scores. Which: by all means, we’d love to see it. But the whole problem with U.S. men right now is that most of them aren’t doing that. Even after Jason’s rough skate in Warsaw, IIRC he still went into nationals with the second highest SB of the U.S. men. If any of the other guys wants to knock him out of contention, step one is not letting that happen.

 

[Karen-W]

Does anyone really think USFS isn’t going to keep Jason in the loop as to what kind of international schedule will be expected of him to be considered for the Olympic team? They’re not going to get to January of 2026 and suddenly be like, “Bro, good job medaling at nationals, but we needed you to do the Grand Prix in 2024 and forgot to mention it. Our bad.”

Going to more international events only helps the other guys with “body of work” if they start posting higher scores. Which: by all means, we’d love to see it. But the whole problem with U.S. men right now is that most of them aren’t doing that. Even after Jason’s rough skate in Warsaw, IIRC he still went into nationals with the second highest SB of the U.S. men. If any of the other guys wants to knock him out of contention, step one is not letting that happen.

Agreed. That's why I said the only risk to Jason, at this point, is one or more of our guys who do compete more frequently in the fall 2025 actually doing what they're capable of and achieving a higher average score. I'd have to pull up the 2022 document again to look it over more carefully but you were placed into tiers based upon matching a certain score at least once internationally or averaging a slightly lower score over the course of the prescribed eligible fall comps (GPs, JGPs, Challengers and the GPF/JGPF). Nationals results also impacted the tier you wound up in and the higher the tier you were in, the higher your priority for selection to the Olympic team.

IIRC - going into 2022 Nats only Nathan, HubDon and ChoBat were in Tier 1; while I think Vincent, Alysa and KniFraz had all managed Tier 2; so the open spots were really 1 in Men, 2 in Women, 1 in Pairs and 1 in Dance.

 

[dinakt]

Ilia's LP is showing up in many of my friends' Facebook posts- and they are not dedicated skating fans. It is wonderful to see.

 

[peibeck]

If Jason skates well at even the most obscure Senior B and skates well enough at Nationals in the 25-26 season, the USFS isn't going to pass him over.

And Ilia's FS seems to have gone viral on social media. I've even seen his FS posted/re-posted by sources I'd NEVER in a million years think would post a figure skating video (like influencers who normally post about things as disparate as food and politics).

Some of my favorite of the comments posted: "I can simultaneously feel ("Succession" characters) Kendall crying and Shiv raging to this,"

"I haven't watched figure skating in about 20 years, but it's nice to see that audiences still start to clap along as soon as the music shows even the faintest hint of a rhythm,"

"Holy sh*t I don't know a damn thing about skating but that was... HOLY CRAP!"

"He's awful old not to have learned about gravity yet!"