U.S. Women [#5]: Remain on the Dance Floor

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Jammers said:
That is one idiotic decision. So 4CC is more important than a National title i guess. Good luck for her trying to make the World team now. Other skaters are doing both events so what is she and her team thinking? :(
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I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something else in the works behind the scenes that we don’t know about because otherwise it does seem to me a bit… as you say, idiotic for lack of a better word… I guess. Her new coaching team did wonders for her in a short amount of time and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something else we don’t know about.

I also do understand her wanting to accumulate some ISU points because she was so low this season She had zero Grand Prix assignments….. yet I think with her confidence in what she was able to achieve in Japan she would want to be on the worlds team.
 
Thinking about this a little more-
So there are two U.S. spots at worlds. If the team is largely picked based on body of work, given Ava's NHK win without a lot of other international points this year where would she need to place at Nationals to be named to the team considering various placement scenarios by skaters with more points this season? What if she were third behind Isabeau and either Lindsay or Amber? What about second? I'm wondering if her team is thinking that even with the NHK win there's a good chance she'd be left off the World team with anything other than a first place finish at nationals?
 
bladesofgorey said:
Thinking about this a little more-
So there are two U.S. spots at worlds. If the team is largely picked based on body of work, given Ava's NHK win without a lot of other international points this year where would she need to place at Nationals to be named to the team considering various placement scenarios by skaters with more points this season? What if she were third behind Isabeau and either Lindsay or Amber? What about second? I'm wondering if her team is thinking that even with the NHK win there's a good chance she'd be left off the World team with anything other than a first place finish at nationals?
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Presuming Isabeau is 1st, then 2nd would guarantee Ava, Lindsay or Amber the Worlds assignment IMO. I think it will go to the highest placing one of them unless all three really bombed and none wound up near the podium.
 
I just saw something on Twitter that said Lindsay and Ava will be on the Today show tomorrow to discuss their season and the upcoming US Championships, which I found a bit ironic (I know they both train fairly close to NYC, just weird with the timing of Ava withdrawing). Also, yay for some publicity for Nationals!
 
I would not be upset if Jackie's prediction comes to fruition!

I'll also make another bold prediction that Mia Kalin will finish 4th IF she manages to land a clean FS complete w/a quad toe or two. I have some reservations about her basic skating and her everything elses, but I think her quads will garner excitement in an otherwise bleh field outside the top 4 (Levito, Glenn, Thorngren, and Ziegler.)

Speaking of Ziegler and sticking to the theme of boldness -- I'm disappointed that she won't be at Nationals as I think it'd make for a far more nailbiting event. I'm also curious, like others, to see how this ultimately plays out for Worlds Team Selections. Ziegler adn her team must be pretty confident that she'll be the highest finishing US lady at Four Continents, but will that body of work be enough against Glenn and Thorngren??


Your thoughts...
 
Jonas said:
Ziegler adn her team must be pretty confident that she'll be the highest finishing US lady at Four Continents, but will that body of work be enough against Glenn and Thorngren??
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4CC is not a part of the selection criteria for the worlds spot, so I can't see how this will matter even if she is.
 
I really don't get Ava's decision to pass up Nationals for 4CC. Not only is she giving up a potential shot at a National title but if the top 2 at Nationals skate lights out it doesn't matter what Ava does at 4CC USFS won't be sending her to worlds.
 
Jammers said:
I really don't get Ava's decision to pass up Nationals for 4CC. Not only is she giving up a potential shot at a National title but if the top 2 at Nationals skate lights out it doesn't matter what Ava does at 4CC USFS won't be sending her to worlds.
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I agree. But I still think there might be something else that happened behind the scenes we may not know about. Who knows? Because it is a very high risk and gamble

but it is serving drama and I do like that lol
 
@Jammers She's had an injury that's been causing her some issues this season. Back to back competitions with a time difference as big as the one between Nationals and 4CC could cause a lot of exhaustion that could make that injury worse or cause her to skate poorly at 4CC. I think it's smart of her to prioritize and extra week of training and rest for 4CC - especially given that she's seen doors open for her internationally as with NHK this season.

And who knows - maybe USFS offered her a deal for worlds consideration and maybe they didn't - but surely if she does well at 4CC she can't be out of the conversation.
 
Ava's decision to sit out Nationals in favor of 4CC is still perplexing to me. It's not as if she's a multiple medalist at Nationals with a lot of clout. But on the other hand I will assume that she and her team are not incompetent at strategy. If she does have a nagging injury that might change things of course. And who know USFS might have suggested something.
 
And success at 4cc will have a greater positive impact on her position next year than success at Nationals, imo.
 
To me there's alot of benefits of Ava skipping Nationals and focusing on 4CC, especially given her dealing with an injury.

  • Less risk of aggravating an injury due to the stresses of competition and then handling long travel and stark time change.
  • A greater chance of medalling at an ISU championship, especially given the inconsistency of all the women in the field sans Sakamoto.
  • A greater chance to get more championship ranking points, upping her ranking and making it more likely she can qualify for 2 GP spots next season.

And then consider all the reasons why 4CCs may be more important than Nationals:

  • She's fighting for one Worlds Spot if we all assume Levito is a given. Ultimately, it's not in her hands whether or not she would get it if Amber skates remotely clean.
  • She's projecting her career in the long term, and sees this as a greater way to progress her career if she has success at 4CCs.
  • An ability to up her World Ranking will possibly qualify her for more GPs and put her in priority for Challengers. Success at those events will translate into higher GOE & PCS and more lenient calls at Nationals, regardless of actual improvements to her skating. This sacrifice this year could result in higher chances at a higher medal and scores at Nationals.
  • An ISU Championship Medal is one hell of an accomplishment. She's far more likely to be in control of that possibility than in hoping for both Isabeau and Amber to melt down to give her a shot at the title.
While yes, a clean Ava would likely have medalled at Nationals, she and her team don't seem to be short term thinkers. They're going off likelihoods and thinking probabilistically, which IMO is a smart way to handle the situation they're in, one of imperfect choices.
 
I would imagine money is a consideration as well.

USFS won't pay her travel for Nationals but they will for 4CC.

There's no prize money on the line at Nationals, but if you medal at 4CC you get thousands in prize money. I don't recall how much it is for 2nd or 3rd, but 1st is $30k - which is a huge chunk of your training costs.

Then there's funding envelopes. Once upon a time Nationals determined a lot about your funding package and what USFS team you were on - but over the last decade or so there's been a much greater emphasis on international results when determining funding and teams. So placing 3rd at 4CC may benefit her more in that aspect than placing third at Nationals.
 
I think skaters would have done both had 4CC been held at a more convenient location for the US skaters. I know the USFS has to deal with the NFL television schedule, but maybe it’s time to see if there are alternatives to make Nationals held earlier in the season… even in December though that’s a challenge with both GPF and holidays and also the NFL schedule too ?.
 
Vagabond said:
Clearly, Four Continents has become a more important competition than U.S. Nationals. :p
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I hope it doesn’t start a trend, although they’ve never named the team before the US championships before… So there’s that. I did always think it’s crazy that USFSA does not pay for travel and accommodations at nationals competitions.
 
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