The Dance Hall 13: When You Dance on the Ice and Your Feet Twizzle Twice, That's Amore

Re: Chock/Bates:

*All of the U.S. skaters who were named in January to the U.S. team for the 2026 World Championships still intend to compete as of Saturday, a U.S. Figure Skating spokesperson said.

That world team includes all the members of the Olympic figure skating team except men’s singles skater Maxim Naumov, who is to be replaced by two-time Olympian Jason Brown, and pairs team Emily Chan and Spencer Howe, replaced by Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman.

The U.S. has an additional pairs spot at worlds. It goes to two-time U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrafonov, who were ineligible for the Olympics because Efimova is not yet a U.S citizen. Different eligibility rules apply for the World Championships.

---

That's from Phil Hersh: https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/alysa-liu-did-it-her-way
 
I'd missed that F-B/Cizeron had said they were doing Worlds. In that case I'd say zero incentive for the other top teams to go (regardless of what USFS is currently saying). I can't imagine some combination of Zingas/Kolesnik, Carreira/Ponomarenko and Green/Parsons not doing enough to maintain 3 spots for the US, particularly with a smaller field at the top of the rankings. Canada probably not. I'm guessing Fear and Gibson will be there, given a good medal chance and also to maintain two spots for Britain.
 
Fear and Gibson have only won one world medal, and I just can't imagine they want to end their season with their free skate at the Olympics. I'm sure they want a chance at a redemption skate.

Charlene and Marco, I can absolutely see them wanting to end their careers at their home Olympics. I could also see them wanting a third world medal, even if it's not gold, but, depending on who goes, there could also be a risk that they wouldn't medal, especially considering that I'm sure they'd be exhausted.

Piper and Paul don't sound like they are going, and I absolutely wouldn't if I were them. If they had a chance at a world title, sure, maybe, but their free dance was a perfect moment and it seems like the moment to go out on.
 
Theatregirl1122 said:
Fear and Gibson have only won one world medal, and I just can't imagine they want to end their season with their free skate at the Olympics. I'm sure they want a chance at a redemption skate.

Charlene and Marco, I can absolutely see them wanting to end their careers at their home Olympics. I could also see them wanting a third world medal, even if it's not gold, but, depending on who goes, there could also be a risk that they wouldn't medal, especially considering that I'm sure they'd be exhausted.

Piper and Paul don't sound like they are going, and I absolutely wouldn't if I were them. If they had a chance at a world title, sure, maybe, but their free dance was a perfect moment and it seems like the moment to go out on.
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This is how I feel as well. It seems pretty likely G/F and G/P will retire after this season and both have won multiple world silver and bronze medals. If F-B/C are going they will expect gold to be out of reach and the only way I see them choosing to go is if their Federations put pressure on them for some reason. F/G on the other hand are younger and I feel like they'll continue after this season and thus would want the prize money, world ranking points, and GP spots. As you said they've only won one world medal and I imagine the Olympics wasn't the experience they were hoping for. With disappointments at both Euros and Olympics they will be wanting to end the season on a better note.

In this scenario I'd expect F-B/C gold. If C/B end up going they would probably get silver, maybe a chance at gold if F-B/C make a mistake or if the panel is more US friendly than the Olympic panel was. F/G would be the favorites for bronze with maybe an small chance it could go to Z/K, La/La, or Lop/Bri if F/G have another poor showing.
 
Karen-W said:
Stop considering scores in such a vacuum. This is ice dance, after all.
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This is a very surprising statement, considering the source. R/A were also clean at the Olympics and actually got higher levels than Z/K, Z/K were still scored 2 points higher even with the lift error.

I’m not expecting Z/K on the podium, but I think it’s a little surprising to hear a R/A medal be treated as a matter of fact.
 
Tinycities said:
This is a very surprising statement, considering the source. R/A were also clean at the Olympics and actually got higher levels than Z/K, Z/K were still scored 2 points higher even with the lift error.

I’m not expecting Z/K on the podium, but I think it’s a little surprising to hear a R/A medal be treated as a matter of fact.
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ReedAmbru had his twizzles called L3 in the FD, so they weren't clean.

And 2.5 months ago at the GPF, ReedAmbru beat ZingKol by 6 points.

All I'm saying is that I think the politics favor ReedAmbru in Prague for the podium over ZingKol, but we'll see.

tangerine dream said:
Maybe, it's all speculation here. No one expected the Shibs to medal at their first worlds in 2011 when they were 16 and 19 but other teams made mistakes and their tech quality was undeniable. We'll just have to wait and see!
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2011 IJS is light years different from 2026 IJS. Back then skaters with strong technical could climb onto the podium their first year in seniors. Those days are well in the rearview mirror.
 
Karen-W said:
2011 IJS is light years different from 2026 IJS. Back then skaters with strong technical could climb onto the podium their first year in seniors. Those days are well in the rearview mirror.
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I'm not sure how you got this idea. The Shibs are the only ice dance team to medal at their first worlds since the introduction of IJS. I'm not sure if it happened under 6.0 but I would guess some Soviet teams probably did.

At 2007 worlds, V/M and D/W debuted placing 6th and 7th and that was considered outrageously high for a first worlds because in dance you were supposed to wait your turn. I was a relatively new fan of ice dance at the time who really liked both V/M and D/W and I remember being surprised how mad posters seemed that first year seniors could place ahead of veterans like Faiella/Scali and the Kerrs.
 
I’d bet at least a meal’s worth of money that a clean skate from Z/K will beat a clean R/A skate. Unless there are folks already determined to keep the newcomers down in favor of Lop/Bri (the French need to keep options open if FBCiz retire) or LaLa.
 
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I suspect some favors will come due in Prague, and the standings could vary quite a bit from the Olympics. I'd bet on Reed & Ambru, Smart and Dieck, and one of the Czech teams to be rewarded with higher finishes than they had at the Olympics. The judges are a little more clever about their tit-for-tat these days. For some teams, e.g., LTU and ESP, a weaker field at Worlds offers a bigger prize.

I would not assume Z&K's placement will hold. I expect them to fall 2-3 places (behind GBR, LTU, ESP), perhaps 4-5 (also L&L and L&B if Chock and Bates show up for the prize money. People will still point to 5th to 8th as being fantastic for their first Worlds.
 
tangerine dream said:
F/G on the other hand are younger and I feel like they'll continue after this season and thus would want the prize money, world ranking points, and GP spots. As you said they've only won one world medal and I imagine the Olympics wasn't the experience they were hoping for. With disappointments at both Euros and Olympics they will be wanting to end the season on a better note.
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Fear/Gibson were interviewed on the BBC last weekend (don't think it's online) and Lewis said that they'll be going for another Olympics. I don't think anyone is surprised they're continuing, but I don't recall them explicitly committing to staying in till Nice before.
 
Belsornia said:
Fear/Gibson were interviewed on the BBC last weekend (don't think it's online) and Lewis said that they'll be going for another Olympics. I don't think anyone is surprised they're continuing, but I don't recall them explicitly committing to staying in till Nice before.
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I'm glad to hear this!
 
I'm curious if the judges will allow one of the Czech teams to place in the top 10 or at least letting them go close to it. The Taschlers were 3.5 points infront of the Mrazeks at the Olympics, which is more or less what Katerina's twizzle mistake was worth. I didn't really see a big push for either team, so it will be interesting to see who the judges are going with in Prague.

After the season is done, I hope the Mrazeks have a critical look at their coaching situation and decide if Egna is really the best place for them. Taschlers weren't 100% committed to do another Olympic cycle, hopefully they will continue.
 
Without having any insight, Mrazeks seem like a team that has been stagnating because they're not getting the best programs/packaging development. Of course easy to say that as a mere spectator. Tbh, LaLa also look to be in such a situation. Kinda standing still as both Canadian number two and perhaps not getting the most priority in their coaching set-up? Demougeot/le Mercier always seem that way to me as well: Not getting the push in packaging and strong programs to take the next step.

All young, strong and talented teams where I always think....more, there's clearly more you could get out of them. How much of that kind of potential actually materializes is always the question, of course.
 
I've yet to see Zanni develop a team that is competitive at the senior level. He's had success on the junior level but I think the Mrazeks would be better off exploring other options, I'm just not sure what those options are in Europe right now.
 
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