Panja
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I only know that W/M really want to fight for the spot:https://lfpress.com/sports/local-sp...nt-michaud-face-fight-for-olympic-pairs-berth .
No, you are not the only one. I am sure, that Olympic team will be J/R and W/T, but nothing is written on the wall. Though I wish M-T/M all the success, too and from the bottom of my heart. It would be such treat to see all pairs to skate to their potential.I'm really curious how Walsh and Michaud will look this season. Am I the only one who hopes the Olympic team is James/Radford and Walsh/Michaud?
A bit of perspective is called for today...
M-T/M weren't clean. Had they been clean, they would have been a lot closer to J/R, possibly even beat them in the SP. As it is, points wise, they are closer to 3rd than J/R are to 2nd. Let's see how things go tomorrow before giving J/R a spot on the Canadian Olympic team.
I don't think that's true, especially after the post-2018 scoring changes, for things like the death spiral and footwork. Heck, you hardly see level 4 death spirals now at all.Coming up to 8 years together - you should be doing level 3,4 spins, death spiral, lifts and footwork. Every time out. Even in middle of summer.
I don't disagree at all. MT/M are far from my favorite team and they certainly aren't helping themselves with their obvious weaknesses in both the twist and lifts.Some additional perspective today....
MT/M's skating has been trending worse over the last few years. Twist is regressing from an already-weak place and they are having a harder time getting levels. Coming up to 8 years together - you should be doing level 3,4 spins, death spiral, lifts and footwork. Every time out. Even in middle of summer. 61 pts with only one glaring error is frightening - picking right up where they left off with their short at World's.
W/M OTOH have been improving. Word is they looked most prepared at Skate Canada camp.
Very clear 3 way race for the 2 Beijing spots. Body of work conversations for the 2 Olympic spots start with this event (altough yes, World's final placing last year will get some consideration but a podium finish matters much much more). MT/M need to get it together to take some of the guesswork out of it in January.
None of our younger teams (assuming you're talking outside of the top three) are anywhere close to being able to compete against them.I’d like to see some of the younger teams competing against them to see how much they’ll push the bar.
Then level 3 as I mentioned. If you can't consistently get level 3 on elements that's all good and fine - skaters can continue to set their own goals and we can continue to excuse or rationalize unimpressive skating that doesn't really stand up to an Olympic standard that will threaten the podium.I don't think that's true, especially after the post-2018 scoring changes, for things like the death spiral and footwork. Heck, you hardly see level 4 death spirals now at all.
I’d still like to see them in competition a few times together. Nationals will no doubt be their last opportunity to see them in the mix, assuming we’ll see some retirements or splits. I doubt the 3 top seniors will compete at challenge, so I guess we’ll wait for nationals.None of our younger teams (assuming you're talking outside of the top three) are anywhere close to being able to compete against them.
MT/M's skating has been trending worse over the last few years. Twist is regressing from an already-weak place and they are having
I don't know if it's nerves or what, but the takeoff in both the short and long looks completely mis-timed. Before Mike even lets go of her it looks awkward. Could be nerves bc the take off of the throw in the short looked off as do the entraces of their lifts in both programs. Pressures of Olympic season and a tougher path to Beijing than expected might be getting in their heads already.Yesterday when I watched the short program I kind of gasped when she was in the air for her twist because I did not think she was high enough and I was expecting something to happen. I’m glad that it did not.
how are MT/M2 injuredTo be fair MT/M are injured. That being said lifts are their Achilles heel and they often end up with level 3 lifts. I still think the way they were judges at this event was too harshly for what they produced.
I saw someone mention their elements layout being wrong for them and agree with that, they are backloading their FS and it costs them levels and GOE.
I assume this will either be a wake-up call for them or it will get them into a bad headspace. J/R shouldn't be a real threat for them, especially in the FS where J/R just don't have the millage or stamina to perform a successful one from how it looks.
He's been having back issues all summer and that affected their training and showings at HPC, and there are other issues rumored but nothing concrete yet.how are MT/M2 injured
On the first ep of his podcast with Trennt he talked about his focus over the summer was weight lifting to get bigger (I assume to improve twist and lifts) so maybe that went south.He's been having back issues all summer and that affected their training and showings at HPC, and there are other issues rumored but nothing concrete yet.
US 1, 2, and 3 are a crapshoot as to which team will be in which slot on any given day. None are known for consistency.It's NOT good that MTM/M fell behind the two US teams, considering that they are US-2 and -3.
Yes, and, a few years ago, M-T/M were at least consistently beating them at Worlds and 4CCs. 2019 4CCs they beat C-G/L by 15 points; 2019 Worlds they beat C-G/L by 7 points; 2020 4CCs they beat C/J by 5.5 points; 2019; 2021 Worlds they beat C-G/L by 10 points. And they only beat K/F by 3 points in Stockholm. Today was almost a complete reversal of the points average they usually have over C-G/L and C/J. Yes, it's early in the season but it's not boding well for their prospects, whatever the reason for their lower points. And, it's not as though C-G/L or C/J scored enough points today to have placed ahead of them at Worlds last spring. M-T/M were well off their 195 from Stockholm. Now, who knows what they will look like in 3 weeks. Goodness knows that a tremendous difference 3 weeks made in how both C-G/L and J/R looked - because most folks in both this thread and the US Pairs thread were giving both of those teams the major side-eye after ACI.US 1, 2, and 3 are a crapshoot as to which team will be in which slot on any given day. None are known for consistency.
I think it would have been fine if they'd chosen a SP with more contrast. If you're going to repeat a FS (which is already not a new style for you), then choosing a SP in a very similar style (but less interesting imo) isn't a great move. When they did this FS last time, it was paired with Love on the Brain, which is style in kind of the same vein as a love song, but musically more distinct.It feels a bit like time is running out for MT/M. It seems very likely that there has been some kind of injury to one or both of them. I know they mentioned a rib issue last year for her and I wouldn't be surprised if this is still lingering and causing the twist problems. The twist has never been good, but it's not usually this bad. Their timing just looked all off at this event. The twist, the throws, everything. If he's had a back injury on top of that, well, not hard to see why they look like they do.
But beyond the element issues they had here, I think they've done themselves a complete disservice with these two programs. I actually like Carry You and think it's a good vehicle for them. However, when you've been skating to similarly themed free program for the better part of 6 years now, it was a mistake to bring this back. And then to combine it with a completely non-descript snoozy short program? That was a miss on their part. It's probably too late in the game to do something about both programs, but I think they really need to ditch the short. Something with a bit of energy to contrast the long would be ideal. Heck, I'd even settle for that jazz cover of Sweet Dreams that they did in 2018. At least that had a distinct feel to it.
It will be interesting to see where the top 3 Canadians pairs go this season. I had thought we'd see a clear pecking order, but right now, it all feels a bit underwhelming and the two teams we've seen have underperformed. W/M have a real opportunity here to get some momentum and put themselves on equal footing with the other two teams going into nationals.
If KMT has not done a lot more with her soggy pelvis on lifts and throws he would have to get to circus strongman or a wheelchair to fix their lifts and throws. She seemed somewhat better training with Brian Shales but who knows. You can only tighten your core muscles by working on them.On the first ep of his podcast with Trennt he talked about his focus over the summer was weight lifting to get bigger (I assume to improve twist and lifts) so maybe that went south.
If KMT has not done a lot more with her soggy pelvis on lifts and throws he would have to get to circus strongman or a wheelchair to fix their lifts and throws. She seemed somewhat better training with Brian Shales but who knows. You can only tighten your core muscles by working on them.