Mark Mitchell was indeed robbed. He parked his car in Los Angeles in 2018 and later returned to find none of his belongings left, not even a discarded wrapper straw.
I mean...
Mark had some harsh luck and was excruciatingly close to more selections, nicer medals, and grander achievements. It has to have been hard to undergo what he has. Thinking back a bit, I can't recall him being in many pro events in the mid-'90s. Can you? It would have been nice to see his artistic programs without amateur pressures.
Since it is part of Mark's career (this time as a coach), I will chime in about Ross Miner in 2018. I was in the arena for the event (men's free and the day after, plus some events before), and I have plenty I could share, but I will try to be brief. First, the USFSA almost never went against national results for Olympic selections. There were what, two instances due to injuries (1992 and 1994) and one instance in 2014 due to body of work? There was not much reason for me (or some others who talked to me) to think that a second-place finisher would not be selected when three spots were available. Second, Ross Miner was not bringing home world medals, but he was not a nobody. He wasn't an untested rookie, he wasn't someone who somehow milked the system but didn't have athletic or artistic qualities; he was a good skater. Third, there is the issue of pressure. When someone (Ross) is spectacular in a big moment and someone (Adam) is not even that good in a pressure cooker, it's hard to see why the latter should move on to a bigger stage instead of the former. I have liked many of both Ross and Adam's programs, and I was not really willing either one onto or off of the Olympic team, but I do remember thinking it through and being a bit surprised and certainly disappointed that Ross' second-place finish didn't get him onto a team of three. For Mark, who experienced many nationals of selections being almost always cut and dry, it must have been hurtful.