2026 US Nationals Gala/Olympic Team Announcement

[Tinycities]

I saw this elsewhere and then listened, but in the us figure skating state of the sport press conference it looked like they were saying the team will be based in Bergamo starting Jan 23rd. Athlete processsing is Jan 29th. 4CC ice dance events are Jan 23-24 with the banquet being on Jan 25. That sounds a little too tight with having to fly from Beijing to Milano.

ZingKol actually going to 4CC feels very unlikely.

 

[Karen-W]

I saw this elsewhere and then listened, but in the us figure skating state of the sport press conference it looked like they were saying the team will be based in Bergamo starting Jan 23rd. Athlete processsing is Jan 29th. 4CC ice dance events are Jan 23-24 with the banquet being on Jan 25. That sounds a little too tight with having to fly from Beijing to Milano.

ZingKol actually going to 4CC feels very unlikely.

Jan 23rd is the earliest that the skaters will start arriving in Bergamo. I don't think it's that big of a deal for them to fly from Beijing to Milan on Jan 26th. That gives them two full weeks to acclimate before the Olympic RD on Feb 9th.

What I think may happen is they'll get home today and discover they've become mini-celebs with all sorts of media requests and other things sucking up more of their time THIS week and they'll realize that traveling to Beijing for 4CCs is more of a challenge than they realized when they said they wanted the 4CCs assignment.

 

[Badams]

It absolutely blows my mind that we are already so close to a winter Olympics! And yet, Beijing seems like a lifetime ago.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Apparently there is a chance of them improving their world standing points at 4ccs. It may have an impact on their starting order in Milan.

For Z/K, the only way it will impact their starting group in Milan is if these three things were to happen without them skating at 4C's: 1. Smart/Dieck pass them at Euros, which is likely since they only have to drop 126 points in the best 2/3 2. Lajoie/Lagha compete at 4C's and pass them and 3. One of Davis/Smolkin, Turkkila/Versluis, or the Taschlers win Euros, the odds of which are so slim, they defy gravity.

Starting order is another thing, if the penultimate groups are split in two -- I don't think that happens, and I can't look that up right now -- if they end up lower than the 8th they are in now, ie, 9th or 10th, and there was a split, they'd skate first or second, rather than third, fourth, or fifth.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Torgashev is currently 23 on the WS list, but six skaters above him will not be in Milan: Brown, Tomono, Yamamoto, one of Rizzo/Memola, Sanchez, Tsuboi. Seven if the Estonia Fed does not choose Alexander Selevko.

Without any movement after Euros/4C's, that would put him in 17th (or 16th), or the third to last group. He would have to drop 131 points against those earned at 4C's, were he to skate, earning incremental points for 18th place or above. Were he to skate well, he would/should pass Livintsev, and possible Hagara and Vasiljevs, more likely Vasiljevs, because Hagara only has to drop 284, while Vasiljevs has to drop 447, and that's before taking Vasiljevs' slump into consideration. Those results won't push him into the penultimate group.

The Men below Torgashev, should he not compete, can pass him mathematically at 4C's or Euros:

Samoilov: 5th or above
Kim: 6th or above
Jin: 8th or above

I can't find whether the German Men's selection has been done; if Gartung has a passport, etc. Whether or not it matters, Gartung needs 7th or above.

The Estonian Men are relevant if Mikhail Selevko (needs 10th) or Levandi (needs 9th) are chosen instead of Alexander Selevko,, although those results for at least M. Selevko are definitely doable.

Competing could protect him from dropping to the second group, because only two/four (or five if Gartung is in the mix) need to pass him for that to happen, or three/four or three/five if Alexander Selevko isn't chosen.

 

[acraven]

I think the athletes are asked, prior to the beginning of competition, whether they are interested in competing at the various subsequent events. I assume many say "yes" to Four Continents in case they are not assigned to the Olympics and/or Worlds and/or Junior Worlds. It would be too hectic, I guess, to wait until each event ends and ask for responses then, but that would seemingly lead to fewer later withdrawals, especially from Four Continents.

It's beneficial to USFS if its skaters have higher rankings and therefore end up skating in a later short-program/rhythm dance group--assuming you think starting order can affect scoring.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Doh, I just realized that if I could check 4C's and see that Gogolev isn't skating (and can't surpass Torgashev), that I could check Dance, and none of the three Olympic-bound CAN teams are competing.

So Z/K should be safely in the penultimate group in Milan, whether or not they skate.

 

[Coco]

I saw this elsewhere and then listened, but in the us figure skating state of the sport press conference it looked like they were saying the team will be based in Bergamo starting Jan 23rd. Athlete processsing is Jan 29th. 4CC ice dance events are Jan 23-24 with the banquet being on Jan 25. That sounds a little too tight with having to fly from Beijing to Milano.

When you spell it out like that, the dates of 4cc seem really odd.

I appreciate that 1) US and Canadian Nationals and 2) the ISU's inability to host simultaneous continental championships push 4cc back in the calendar, but it's almost unfair to let WS points earned at 2026 Euros count since it's ill advised for any Olympians to do 4cc.

 

[Karen-W]

Torgashev is currently 23 on the WS list, but six skaters above him will not be in Milan: Brown, Tomono, Yamamoto, one of Rizzo/Memola, Sanchez, Tsuboi. Seven if the Estonia Fed does not choose Alexander Selevko.

Without any movement after Euros/4C's, that would put him in 17th (or 16th), or the third to last group. He would have to drop 131 points against those earned at 4C's, were he to skate, earning incremental points for 18th place or above. Were he to skate well, he would/should pass Livintsev, and possible Hagara and Vasiljevs, more likely Vasiljevs, because Hagara only has to drop 284, while Vasiljevs has to drop 447, and that's before taking Vasiljevs' slump into consideration. Those results won't push him into the penultimate group.

The Men below Torgashev, should he not compete, can pass him mathematically at 4C's or Euros:

Samoilov: 5th or above
Kim: 6th or above
Jin: 8th or above

I can't find whether the German Men's selection has been done; if Gartung has a passport, etc. Whether or not it matters, Gartung needs 7th or above.

The Estonian Men are relevant if Mikhail Selevko (needs 10th) or Levandi (needs 9th) are chosen instead of Alexander Selevko,, although those results for at least M. Selevko are definitely doable.

Competing could protect him from dropping to the second group, because only two/four (or five if Gartung is in the mix) need to pass him for that to happen, or three/four or three/five if Alexander Selevko isn't chosen.

Germany doesn't have a men's slot for the Olympics, so no Gartung.

 

[Vagabond]

One of Davis/Smolkin, Turkkila/Versluis, or the Taschlers win Euros, the odds of which are so slim, they defy gravity.

Gravity, schmavity!

Turkkila & Versluis for Euro gold!

 

[kwanfan1818]

When you spell it out like that, the dates of 4cc seem really odd.

I appreciate that 1) US and Canadian Nationals and 2) the ISU's inability to host simultaneous continental championships push 4cc back in the calendar, but it's almost unfair to let WS points earned at 2026 Euros count since it's ill advised for any Olympians to do 4cc.

It hasn't been so much the timing but the travel that has been the commonly cited reason for US and Canadian Olympians not competing at 4C's that are held in Asia. I think last year was the big issue because skaters had to leave from US Nats directly to 4C's.

Germany doesn't have a men's slot for the Olympics, so no Gartung.

Argh, I should have looked that up. Thank you for the correction.

 

[Karen-W]

For Z/K, the only way it will impact their starting group in Milan is if these three things were to happen without them skating at 4C's: 1. Smart/Dieck pass them at Euros, which is likely since they only have to drop 126 points in the best 2/3 2. Lajoie/Lagha compete at 4C's and pass them and 3. One of Davis/Smolkin, Turkkila/Versluis, or the Taschlers win Euros, the odds of which are so slim, they defy gravity.

Starting order is another thing, if the penultimate groups are split in two -- I don't think that happens, and I can't look that up right now -- if they end up lower than the 8th they are in now, ie, 9th or 10th, and there was a split, they'd skate first or second, rather than third, fourth, or fifth.

I just looked it up and Olympic Games draw are the same as ISU Championships, so, yes, they're split within each group.

I understand the rationale for ZingKol to want to protect their position in the WS, but this also could negatively impact CarPon.

Right now, the standings look like this:

6th - CarPon 3530
7th - ReedAmbru 3478
8th - ZingKol 3307
9th - LajLag 3253
10th - SmaDie 3056

Theoretically, ZingKol will gain enough WS points to bump CarPon down to 7th. ReedAmbru need to finish at least 5th at Euros to earn enough WS points to move ahead of CarPon since they already have 496 points - 5th earns 551 points. By my math, SmaDie need to finish at least 4th in order to earn enough points to jump ahead of CarPon since they already have 126 points - 4th earns 612 points.

It's going to be dicey over the rest of this week to see how things shake out at Euros with regard to CarPon's position within that projected Olympic warm-up group.

 

[Tinycities]

From Jackie:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2010810177642197097

 

[kwanfan1818]

The field should be led by FB/C, F/G, G/F and S/D, and D/S and T/V could also contend for top six.

I think S/D are most vulnerable, needing 4th. R/A are also vulnerable needing 5th or higher, because of S/D.

Also not Vilnius, but Tallinn is pretty close, so maybe they'll R/A will have more than average crowd support.

 

[Karen-W]

The field should be led by FB/C, F/G, G/F and S/D, and D/S and T/V could also contend for top six.

I think S/D are most vulnerable, needing 4th. R/A are also vulnerable needing 5th or higher, because of S/D.

Also not Vilnius, but Tallinn is pretty close, so maybe they'll R/A will have more than average crowd support.

Euros are in Sheffield, not Tallinn this year... SmaDie are going to have huge crowd support seeing as Sheffield is Olivia's home town.

Now, let's discuss Pairs and where KamO and ChanHowe stand...

 

[kwanfan1818]

Euros are in Sheffield, not Tallinn this year... SmaDie are going to have huge crowd support seeing as Sheffield is Olivia's home town.

Man, I really need food, because my brain is hungry! I was thinking of Jr. Worlds.

I'm still not sure Sheffield will give S/D 4th, but maybe. I don't think both that and 5th for R/A will happen, but, also, maybe. Particularly if Fusar-Poli pulls G/F from Euros.

 

[Karen-W]

I'm still not sure Sheffield will give S/D 4th, but maybe. I don't think both that and 5th for R/A will happen, but, also, maybe. Particularly if Fusar-Poli pulls G/F from Euros.

That's what I'm thinking too. I think it's one or the other - either SmaDie finish 4th or better OR ReedAmbru finish 5th or better. Do we think Babs will pull GuigFab? I'd have thought that would have already happened if it was going to happen.

I've checked out the pairs standings - KamO look pretty solid in their WS 6th position (penultimate warm-up group). PavSvia and GhiAmbro are the only ones who can catch them and they'd need to finish 1st (PavSvia) or 2nd/higher (GhiAmbro) to displace KamO with incremental points. ChanHowe are likely to drop 1 spot but still remain within the 2nd warm-up group. NagaMori will move ahead of them after 4CCs since they only have 1 set of ISU Championships points currently, so they'll count all the points they earn & there are only 11 teams there. GoluGM are the only other team that could move ahead of ChanHowe in the WS but they'd need to win 4CCs to do that.

 

[Jammers]

When you spell it out like that, the dates of 4cc seem really odd.

I appreciate that 1) US and Canadian Nationals and 2) the ISU's inability to host simultaneous continental championships push 4cc back in the calendar, but it's almost unfair to let WS points earned at 2026 Euros count since it's ill advised for any Olympians to do 4cc.

I agree North American skaters get hosed especially in an Olympic year because they can't compete at 4CC while European skaters get one final Championship competition to skate in and do their programs one last time before the Olympics.

 

[MacMadame]

Okay. But my question was more about whether everyone was offered that or if they requested it themselves?

In the past, everyone is offered it, but most of the people going to Worlds/Olympics turn it down as they don't want the extra stress on their bodies. Skaters/teams who go do so because they think it's worth it to them, usually because they want more experience before the big event or need the prize money.

ETA I find this discussion strange. Even if Z/K requested it, it's not their responsibility to preserve another team's world standing. These guys are professional athletes -- this is their job -- and they need to do what makes sense for them and their own career.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

What you say about Z/K vs C/P applies a little to the ladies as well. The media trying to paint this we`re-all-in-it-together vibe. There`s a little truth in that the`re chummier than usual. But, I wouldn`t let this get too far. I was first a musician then a business owner in a very competative field. One has to focus on what great qualities you have and picture how you`re gonna use them to beat the others. After all you deserve it more. I think Isabeau is like this to her credit.

(I saw an interview with Sasha where she was asked how she fouind Michelle as a person. She replied something to the effect "I don`t really know her. We weren`t friends; we were competitors)

 

[kwanfan1818]

They can be friends and still want to compete in the TE and medal and win the individual event, which is, by definition, at the expense of the other. My hockey idol Julie Chu is married to and has two kids with Caroline Ouillette, against whom she played in three Olympics.

 

[jlai]

Don’t forget Tanith competing against Charlie in 2010.

or Grishuk in 90s

 

[tangerine dream]

ETA I find this discussion strange. Even if Z/K requested it, it's not their responsibility to preserve another team's world standing. These guys are professional athletes -- this is their job -- and they need to do what makes sense for them and their own career.

There's also a ton of prize money available. They will easily be the favorites for gold which would earn them around $30,000.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Especially since none of the Canadian Olympics-bound teams are competing.