Olympic Team Event: Strategies and Subs! (Threads Merged)

[Bellanca]

After watching 4CC, I think Japan should let Sakomoto skate in the Team Event. She is more consistent than Miyahara. Miyahara can do the SP, she seems to do well there. Then Sakomoto can do the LP.

I think that will probably be the plan for the team event. Satoko was off her game @ 4CC, and should, hopefully, be back on track by the time the Olys roll around. But, certainly, JSF made the right call assigning these two ladies to the team. Miyahara and Sakamoto are right where they should be -- heading to PyeongChang.

 

[butyrskafanatic]

I feel awful for Higuchi though. After such a strong season to be bumped off by the newbie. She really should be the only skater to have beaten Zagitova thus far (well Medvedeva probably deserved to beat Zagitova at the Europeans too).

 

[coppertop1]

I feel awful for Higuchi though. After such a strong season to be bumped off by the newbie. She really should be the only skater to have beaten Zagitova thus far (well Medvedeva probably deserved to beat Zagitova at the Europeans too).

I thought she would make the team after her Grand Prix Events, then she didn't skate well at the GPF. That may have been a factor. Six ladies fighting for two spots. Every event counts. At least Higuchi still will go to Worlds.

 

[butyrskafanatic]

I thought she would make the team after her Grand Prix Events, then she didn't skate well at the GPF. That may have been a factor. Six ladies fighting for two spots. Every event counts. At least Higuchi still will go to Worlds.

I think if she came 2nd at Nationals she still would go for sure, but had she done better at the GPF she would have gone inspite of being 3rd at Nationals.

 

[Cleo1782]

I think if she came 2nd at Nationals she still would go for sure, but had she done better at the GPF she would have gone inspite of being 3rd at Nationals.

Higuchi was 4th at Nationals. Not 3rd...And 5th in the lp. Kihira was 3rd. Mihara beat Higuchi in the lp too.

 

[butyrskafanatic]

Higuchi was 4th at Nationals. Not 3rd...And 5th in the lp. Kihira was 3rd. Mihara beat Higuchi in the lp too.

Thanks. I guess that is why she was left off the Olympic team, since she wasnt even 3rd. Maybe had she been 3rd she would have gotten the nod for her season. As it was she given the 2nd spot to worlds despite being 4th at Nationals.

 

[skatingguy]

Thanks. I guess that is why she was left off the Olympic team, since she wasnt even 3rd. Maybe had she been 3rd she would have gotten the nod for her season. As it was she given the 2nd spot to worlds despite being 4th at Nationals.

Keep in mind that Kihira is not eligible for senior international events this season.

 

[Cleo1782]

Keep in mind that Kihira is not eligible for senior international events this season.

No of course, I just believed it would have helped Higuchi's case (or even secured it) had she actually medaled. I really love Higuchi, so I am disappointed. The fact Mihara beat her in the LP probably didn't help either.

 

[coppertop1]

Japan had really bad luck at Worlds with their Ladies. Their top skater was injured. Asada had retired and was past her prime (she didn't even make the World Team). They had two inexperienced skaters and Hongo, who struggled all year. It's unfortunate that they only had two spots for the Olympics

 

[Dobre]

I am pretty sure Japanese ladies will plan to split. For starters they only have 2 events they can even reasonably substitute in (ladies and men) if they make Team Finals. Having Sakomoto do the LP makes sense as there are fewer jumps in the short program and Miyahara can get through that without a call often.

I believe the ladies tech panel at the Olympics is the same one that was at Skate America, where Miyahara won the base value over Sakamoto in both portions of the competition. Both base value scores were very close.

 

[butyrskafanatic]

I believe the ladies tech panel at the Olympics is the same one that was at Skate America, where Miyahara won the base value over Sakamoto in both portions of the competition. Both base value scores were very close.

Maybe but after Four Continents I think they will split which they were probably leaning to anyway, as it is one of the few events they have depth in. Even with a panel that has been leanient to her before Miyahara is a risk in the LP with her < jumps anyhow.

 

[Dobre]

I think they will split the ladies & men because they can. Has nothing to do with Miyahara being a risk. (She's one of the most consistent ladies in the field and has more experience in major international competition than Sakamoto). The Japanese ladies have close enough scores that Japan can afford to split them. Which allows the top athletes to rest and allows more athletes to compete in the team event. Win. Win. Though Japan will have to make the FD cut first, which is likely.

 

[Marco]

I believe the ladies tech panel at the Olympics is the same one that was at Skate America, where Miyahara won the base value over Sakamoto in both portions of the competition. Both base value scores were very close.

The more important question is whether the caller at the Olympics ladies event is the same person as in Skate America too. For instance, the caller at 4CCs wasn't as generous.

 

[DobrinFan]

The more important question is whether the caller at the Olympics ladies event is the same person as in Skate America too. For instance, the caller at 4CCs wasn't as generous.

The tech panel is the same as it was at SA like @Dobre stated.
Technical Controller: Susan LYNCH (AUS)
Technical Specialist and Assistant Technical Specialist: Jae-Eun CHUNG (KOR), Yevgeny MARTYNOV (UKR)

SA: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/gpusa2017/SEG003OF.HTM
Olympics (page 10): http://www.olimpiyatkomitesi.org.tr/Upload/PyeongChang2018/figure_scating_manual.pdf

 

[Marco]

Thanks DobrinFan. I think that's great news for Satoko and perhaps Mirai/Karen as well.

 

[DobrinFan]

Thanks DobrinFan. I think that's great news for Satoko and perhaps Mirai/Karen as well.

Well she did give Karen 1 <<, 3 <, and a !. She got the most calls at SA

 

[Marco]

Well she did give Karen 1 <<, 3 <, and a !. She got the most calls at SA

Her jumps were too obvious not to be <ed there. But it appears she would give skaters benefit of the doubt more so than not - but Karen would still have to rotate 2.75 tuns around ofcourse.

 

[butyrskafanatic]

Her jumps were too obvious not to be <ed there. But it appears she would give skaters benefit of the doubt more so than not - but Karen would still have to rotate 2.75 tuns around ofcourse.

Karen will have lots of problems with < calls based on her skating thus far this year. That is another reason I feel the decision to give her the 3rd spot over Wagner with bloated PCS was wrong. Her PCS and overall skating is probably the best of the 3 U.S women they are sending, and her jumps when landed with full rotation should be stronger than Nagasu and Tennell, but in addition to being very inconsistent this year, even when she skates well like Nationals she is having trouble getting full rotations this season it seems. Even worse than Wagner, who herself is prone to that. And as all 3 U.S women are dark horses for even a top 5 who will to skate perfectly and rely on mistakes to get near a medal, it is best to send ones who atleast have a possability of skating cleanly.

 

[Vash01]

Although i am happy for Karen, i think Ashley would have been a better choice for the third spot, when the Team competition is considered. I dont mean that Ashley should have been sent despite her 4th place finish, but her PCS could have been higher than Karen's. It might have placed ber 3rd instead of 4th. Anyway, good luck to all the skaters who made the team.

 

[Coco]

Got all excited when I saw on NBCOlympics.com that team event participants had been released, but it was just a list of every skater representing the qualified countries.

Argh...can't wait for this event to get started!

 

[joubertelegant]

The Team Event isn't really that big a deal in the aftermath. The most exciting part is the pre part and wondering who will be picked to skate for different teams.

 

[Spiralgraph]

It might not be a big deal for some but probably for other skaters it is. Example Meryl and Charlie, who have a silver and a gold for the ice dance events from 2010 and 2014 and a bronze from the team event in 2014, which might not mean as much, but say for Simon Shnpir (spelling?) perhaps that might be a great memory and accomplishment that he has a medal from the Olympics. It's all a matter of perspective. I'm looking forward to the team event.

By the way for the USA, who actually decides which skaters skate which programs?

 

[joubertelegant]

It might not be a big deal for some but probably for other skaters it is. Example Meryl and Charlie, who have a silver and a gold for the ice dance events from 2010 and 2014 and a bronze from the team event in 2014, which might not mean as much, but say for Simon Shnpir (spelling?) perhaps that might be a great memory and accomplishment that he has a medal from the Olympics. It's all a matter of perspective. I'm looking forward to the team event.

By the way for the USA, who actually decides which skaters skate which programs?

Yeah good point, it depends an awful lot on the skater. For Julia her Olympic Team gold is probably her shining moment, even slightly over her European title and world silver. For Abbott and Brown it is a career highlight. For Kevin Reynolds. Bobrova & Soloviev as well.

 

[RoseRed]

Even Tessa and Scott said that many of their favourite memories from Sochi are of the Team Event and that it was really special to compete as a team.

 

[clairecloutier]

How the team for the U.S. Olympic figure skating team event is chosen
http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2018/02/01/figure-skating-olympic-team-event-usa-roster/

This article says we will get answers about the team event "next week." In terms of who's on the team, and who will be skating which programs.

 

[VGThuy]

How the team for the U.S. Olympic figure skating team event is chosen
http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2018/02/01/figure-skating-olympic-team-event-usa-roster/

This article says we will get answers about the team event "next week." In terms of who's on the team, and who will be skating which programs.

Interesting. I for some reason thought ice dance would be the last priority when it came to deciding whether to use a substitute.

 

[Debbie S]

It's iffy as to whether men or dance will be ranked first. Either way, I think it comes down to whether Nathan skates both programs...based on what Gracie said in the above article about her convo with USFS in 2014, I would think TPTB would say that Nathan should only do 1 program, most likely the SP. At that point, they would either give the Shibs the choice of skating 1 or both, or 'suggest' an option depending on whether they want to sub ladies. My guess is they will prefer to sub ladies (and did I read somewhere, maybe just a rumor, that the Shibs wanted to skate both?) and will have the Shibs do both.

Frankly, I think ranking H/D vs C/B gets a little sticky. If they are using the BOW criteria that was used for Oly selection, C/B do outrank H/D in most of the events (and there are no official weights given to each tier). And C/B did beat H/D in the FD at the 2 events where H/D finished higher overall. USFS may decide it's easier to just have the Shibs do both.

 

[butyrskafanatic]

I think we will see the Shibutanis do the short dance and Hubbell & Donohue the free dance. Anything else would surprise me. Based on the rumors of Nagasu doing the long I also think Chen will do both programs. I think the choice will be left up to Chen more than anything, if he wants to do both (and given his personality he probably does, regardless if is wise or not) they will let him do both. Also lets face it, they would give a ton of points using a 2nd man if his program is even decently skated amongst the other countries, so depending how gung ho they are on challenging for a silver and atleast securing the bronze they probably prefer Chen doing both anyway.

What I am far more interested in is what Russia does regarding the men after Aliev beat Kolyada handily at Europeans which was a shake up.

 

[levineismine]

So I ran a few different scenarios and I think a lot may come down to the men event (who is skating, and how they skate). Pairs and Dance seem pretty set to me.

I think the qualifiers for the free will be in order: CAN, RUS, then JPN/US in either order, and the last spot will be between CHN/ITA. Depending on which men the US uses, how well M/R skate in the dance event, and which one between CHN and ITA qualifies, JPN really may challenge the US for bronze.

I think we will see some surprises in terms of selection for the teams, as not all countries may care about the team event (especially the ones not in the running for medals).

 

[RoseRed]

So I ran a few different scenarios and I think a lot may come down to the men event (who is skating, and how they skate). Pairs and Dance seem pretty set to me.

I think the qualifiers for the free will be in order: CAN, RUS, then JPN/US in either order, and the last spot will be between CHN/ITA. Depending on which men the US uses, how well M/R skate in the dance event, and which one between CHN and ITA qualifies, JPN really may challenge the US for bronze.

I think we will see some surprises in terms of selection for the teams, as not all countries may care about the team event (especially the ones not in the running for medals).

The countries for sure not in the running for medals / not likely to make the FS would probably be: ISR, KOR, FRA, and GER, right?
Israel only has a choice in men, and I think they'll for sure go with Alexei.
KOR: only has a choice in ladies, and I think they'll for sure go with Dabin.
FRA: only has a choice in dance, and I'm not sure what they'll do. It'll be up to P/C for, and I think teams don't like to skip events in dance, but who knows if they want to go up against V/M a week before the individual. They haven't been to the Olympics before, so it might be good for them, but they might prefer to just focus on the individual. I can see strategy either way.
GER: only has a choice in pairs. I guess S/M will probably skip, unless they feel that Bruno needs it because he hasn't been to the Games before.

Really the big questions in terms of participation (that would affect the standings a lot) are P/C, S/M, and Carolina imo.