I don't understand what you are saying here, especially because I very much DID say we should have the debate after nationals in an earlier post.So just to be clear, what is the age cutoff at which point skaters should no longer be given a world or Olympic team spot even if they beat the younger skaters at nationals? If we make it 25 and/or require a long-term commitment to continue competing, what are we going to do with Nathan Chen if he decides to come back for a season at age 26? “Sorry, Nathan, we need to invest in skaters with future potential instead.” Are we also excluding Jimmy Ma from consideration for the world team this year since he’s about the same age as Jason and hasn’t publicly committed to pursuing a 2026 Olympic spot? I just think we should probably put some clear criteria in writing so skaters don’t waste time and money trying to compete at nationals when they’re already past their expiration dates.
Or alternatively, we could wait and see what these guys do at nationals and select a world team based on demonstrated performance ability at that time rather than making wild guesses about what they may or may not be capable of or interested in doing three years from now.
Nowhere did I say Brown shouldn't be sent no matter what happens at nationals, and I very much DO point out what is in his favour a couple of times, and why it might be advantageous for the USFS to send him. It would be foolish to say no if he ends up with silver and a 90 point margin over bronze. I just disagree in any normal scenario it is "discrimination" if he isn't sent, because then I can equally apply "discrimination" to other skaters from multiple other points of view. Brown has his own reputation that they judges actually recognize, that others very much do lack - this consideration is in HIS favour, nobody else's currently. So let's not slip into saying he's somehow being "discriminated" against whenever someone so much as disagrees with team selection. All it means is someone disagrees. Using "ageism" there frankly devalues a loaded term.