U.S. Figure Skating announces 2023-24 National Qualifying Series (NQS) competitions + Series Finals dates/locations

[Ena Grins]

It appears to be benefiting lower ranked skaters and teams that only had 1 GP - athletes already in the top 24 SB/WR, and athletes with 2 GP's have less need to be sent to a non-challenger Sr. B, and USFS is less likely to spend the $$ to send them there. The prior season points aren't offsetting that nearly enough (especially with current season events basically counting 2x with average & highest). The top 5 from US Nationals are put into the selection pool as well, so it's not like anyone is being left out, but seeing the numbers makes me think USFS is not going to rely too much on the ranking - otherwise Seo & Shin could be given higher consideration than skaters that beat them on the GP.

It seems like a reasonable way to put a pool of athletes together, but not a good solution for final selection (IMO).

Interestingly, it doesn't read as though the ranking will in and of itself decide who's on the team. The discretionary criteria section is (IMO) vaguer:

The performance data provided to the International Committee to enhance their discussion for the selection of the athletes/teams will include competition results and other reports/data relating to detailed results sheets of the competitions listed in section 1.2. The data derived from the detailed results sheets from these events will provide a body of work within a twelve-month period that will demonstrate the athlete’s/team’s consistency and ability to achieve medal potential scores at the 2024 World Championships. The data derived from protocols from the list of events, looking at consistency, competitiveness, and trending scores, will be a primary focus on discussing the ranking of the athletes/teams and determining who will be the best athletes that will have the most performance impact at the2024 World Championships.

This reads to me as the committee using the scores and detailed protocols from the events included in the ranking and reviewing for "consistency, competitiveness, and trend."

Basically, we'll know almost exactly who is in consideration for the World Team, but the actual team may be more up for interpretation.

 

[Karen-W]

Interestingly, it doesn't read as though the ranking will in and of itself decide who's on the team. The discretionary criteria section is (IMO) vaguer:

This reads to me as the committee using the scores and detailed protocols from the events included in the ranking and reviewing for "consistency, competitiveness, and trend."

Basically, we'll know almost exactly who is in consideration for the World Team, but the actual team may be more up for interpretation.

Yes, that's my interpretation as well. As @ice coverage said, the current season ranking data is only one way in which a skater/team can qualify for the selection pool. So, basically, it could save someone's skin from being ruled out of consideration if they have a decent fall season internationally but either bomb at Nats or have to WD for whatever reason.

I do wonder when the USFS will announce the 4CCs team since they're making the decision the 2nd week of December.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Interestingly, it doesn't read as though the ranking will in and of itself decide who's on the team.

That's good, because I wouldn't be excited to use a ranking that says Pate and Bye are our best choice of dance team...

 

[Karen-W]

That's good, because I wouldn't be excited to use a ranking that says Pate and Bye are our best choice of dance team...

Eh, ChoBat are going to pull ahead of them after the GPF, .

 

[ice coverage]

So if I have everything straight in my head re Four Continents consideration, "Calculation of Overall Athlete Performance Data" is what will enable Kapeikis, Seo, Martins/Bedard, Mokhova/Mokhov, and McNamara/Spiridonov to be included in the pool for consideration. (All fine by me.)

They don't fit other criteria, and per the numbers seen in Karen's tables for Four Continents, they realistically will not be displaced from the top five positions in Calculation of Overall Data, regardless of Golden Spin results or GPF results.

As @ice coverage said, the current season ranking data is only one way in which a skater/team can qualify for the selection pool. ...

If you're talking about "Calculation of Overall Athlete Performance Data," I think someone else deserves the credit for highlighting this point.

... So, basically, it could save someone's skin from being ruled out of consideration if they have a decent fall season internationally but either bomb at Nats or have to WD for whatever reason. ...

Not wishing either of these scenarios on anyone, but I will be curious to see who in top five of "Calculation of Overall Athlete Performance Data" for Worlds consideration did not meet any other criteria -- with 2024 Nats score getting the highest weighting factor (x 4) instead of score from sectionals or most recent international.

 

[Karen-W]

So if I have everything straight in my head re Four Continents consideration, "Calculation of Overall Athlete Performance Data" is what will enable Kapeikis, Seo, Martins/Bedard, Mokhova/Mokhov, and McNamara/Spiridonov to be included in the pool for consideration. (All fine by me.)

And Liu/Nagy also.

Not wishing either of these scenarios on anyone, but I will be curious to see who in top five of "Calculation of Overall Athlete Performance Data" for Worlds consideration did not meet any other criteria -- with 2024 Nats score getting the highest weighting factor (x 4) instead of score from sectionals or most recent international.

Seo, the Mokhovs and McNamara/Spiridonov seem to be the likely candidates. The Mokhovs and McNamara/Spiridonov have pretty low scores in that Sectional/Most recent int'l category, so their Nationals score can only go up one would hope. McNamara/Spiridonov aren't getting within spitting distance of Top 5 at Nats. The Mokhovs might, if they're clean, finish Top 5, but I'd be surprised, especially with Chan/Howe, McBeath/Parkman and Efimova/Mitrofanov in the mix. Same goes for Seo, though we know she is capable of scoring well, but there are those international juniors who are skating senior at Nats who can easily outscore her and the likes of Levito, Glenn and Thorngren whose scores this season are consistently much higher than Clare's.

 

[ice coverage]

And Liu/Nagy also.

But Liu/Nagy meet the criterion of Top 24 in ISU Season's World Ranking too -- currently #12.
That's why I did not list them.

My previous post was about skaters for whom Calculation of Overall Data is "the only thing" (in hindsight, should have used that wording) that will enable them to be included in the pool for Four Continents consideration.

ETA:​

... Seo, the Mokhovs and McNamara/Spiridonov seem to be the likely candidates. The Mokhovs and McNamara/Spiridonov have pretty low scores in that Sectional/Most recent int'l category, so their Nationals score can only go up one would hope. McNamara/Spiridonov aren't getting within spitting distance of Top 5 at Nats. The Mokhovs might, if they're clean, finish Top 5, but I'd be surprised, especially with Chan/Howe, McBeath/Parkman and Efimova/Mitrofanov in the mix. Same goes for Seo, though we know she is capable of scoring well, but there are those international juniors who are skating senior at Nats who can easily outscore her and the likes of Levito, Glenn and Thorngren whose scores this season are consistently much higher than Clare's.

For Worlds consideration, I am definitely worried about McNamara/Spiridonov falling out of the top five of Calculation of Overall Data. In your table for Four Continents, they are in fifth position and not even two points ahead of Carreira/Ponomarenko.

Just roughly eyeballing your Four Continents table for Women, I am concerned whether Seo's small-ish "cushion" will be sufficient to keep her in top five of Calculation of Overall Data for Worlds consideration. I think it will depend on scores from Golden Spin and from Nats.

Agree that Mokhova/Mokhov will not fall out of top five of Calculation of Overall Data for Worlds consideration, and it could turn out to be the (only) reason that they do receive Worlds consideration.​

ETA:​

Just noticed that a skater has competed in three disciplines of NQS this season.

Matthew Soifer of Skokie Valley Skating Club and his Intermediate Pairs partner just won U.S. Pairs Final.

With his Novice Dance partner, Matthew is eligible to compete at U.S. Ice Dance Final.

Matthew also is eligible to compete in Junior Men at Midwestern Sectionals.

Triple threat Matthew Soifer did go on to compete at U.S. Ice Dance Final too.

Thanks to @azcalder for interviewing him (and other ice dancers) at the event.​

Recap: Stories from the 2024 U.S. Ice Dance Final – Ice-dance.com

www.ice-dance.com

(posted Nov 26)​

ETA:​

... Note: USFS has yet to announce their 2024 Youth Olympic Games team (selection criterion is highest NQS score of the YOG age-eligible skaters in each discipline) and it is expected to be Jacob Sanchez (presumably this is why he did not compete at Easterns), Sherry Zhang, Olivia Ilin/Dylan Cain and Cayla Smith/Jared McPike (only YOG age-eligible pair).
Zhang (won the Pacific Coast Junior Women's event) and Ilin/Cain (Dance Final 4th place pewter medalists) would miss 2024 Nationals if they are confirmed to be going to YOG in South Korea.
Once named, their alternates to Nationals would be: Teryn Kim (Pacific Coast 5th in Junior Women) and Zoe Cialella/David Goldshteyn (11th in Junior at the Ice Dance Final). ...

Follow-up to Sylvia's post from Nov 21:​

No surprises in YOG entries now added to USFS assignments page, as of Nov 27:
Zhang; Sanchez; Smith/McPike; Ilin/Cain.

And USFS has updated Nationals lists on Nov 27.
They now show withdrawals of Sherry Zhang and Ilin/Cain; and additions of Teryn Kim and Cialella/Goldshteyn.

2024 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships Lineup Announced - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

More than 180 athletes have qualified for the 2024 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which will take place Jan. 22-28 in Columbus, Ohio.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

2024 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships Lineup Announced | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

 

[ice coverage]

And, the Men - red indicates one competition remaining

Skater	Sectional *4	GPF *3	GP Highest *1.25	GP Average *1.25	CS Highest *1	CS Average *1	Sr B Highest *.75	Sr B Average *.75	Prev Season *15	Total
Hiwatashi	996.44​	0​	0​	0​	223.79​	111.895​	149.37​	149.37​	0​	1630.87​

Sorry, am I forgetting something? Did Tomoki compete at a Senior B this season?

http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs_cr_00014495.htm

Tomoki Hiwatashi - Figure Skating - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

Tomoki Hiwatashi (52) Jan. 20, 2000 - CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS World Junior champion (2019) World Junior bronze medalist (2016) U.S. bronze medalist (2020) U.S.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

 

[Karen-W]

Sorry, am I forgetting something? Did Tomoki compete at a Senior B this season?

http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs_cr_00014495.htm

Tomoki Hiwatashi - Figure Skating - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

Tomoki Hiwatashi (52) Jan. 20, 2000 - CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS World Junior champion (2019) World Junior bronze medalist (2016) U.S. bronze medalist (2020) U.S.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

Whoops! I copied and pasted the formulas from the Women's spreadsheet and forgot to delete the score from that, lol.

He's still in the same spot on the table and whatever points he gets from Golden Spin won't change his position on it.

Hiwatashi

996.44​

0​

0​

0​

223.79​

111.895​

0​

0​

0​

1332.13​

ETA - I don't know what happened, but it looks like I screwed up Martynov's line as well - which is going to prompt me to review my whole Men's table...

Martynov

789.44​

0​

0​

0​

197.36​

197.36​

0​

0​

0​

1184.16​

ETA2 - Kapeikis also had one minor error -

Kapeikis

787.76​

0​

275.1875​

260.68125​

181.03​

181.03​

145.0425​

145.0425​

0​

1975.77​

 

[ice coverage]

Me again.

Do not think it ultimately will make a difference in terms of assignments, but ... taking a closer look at the fine print for the selection procedures, I am sorry to say that for Senior Men, I do not think Kings Cup International will count as a Senior B for Calculation of Overall Data.
"* Note: Events must meet the criteria for Eligible Events as defined by the ISU in Communication #1629, page 4, paragraphs C.1.4 and C.2.3 to be used as part of the selection process."

C.1.4 from ISU Communication No. 1629:
"International Senior Competitions, provided there are minimum 8 single skaters, respectively 6 Ice Dance couples out of four ISU Members present respectively 5 Pairs out of three ISU Members."

https://www.isu.org/inside-isu/isu-communications/communications-archives/1625-1629-world-standing-sandp-id/file

Per Kings Cup results page: Out of seven Senior Men entries, six completed the event.
Which seems to be why Goku Endo did not earn any ISU World Standings points for Kings Cup, as I noticed today for the first time.
(Presumably also true for other Senior Men from Kings Cup, although I have not checked.
And same problem for Junior Men from Kings Cup.)

 

[ice coverage]

FYI: As an apparent work in progress, USFS YouTube playlists for 2023-2024 season's Sectional Singles Finals/Dance Final/Pairs Finals (including seniors and juniors) have been getting frequent updates in recent days -- and music now is not muted [although I think it was before?] for at least some of the programs.

2023-24 Midwestern Sectional Singles Final & U.S. Ice Dance Final:

2024 Midwestern Sectional Singles & U.S. Ice Dance Final

Live Results: https://ijs.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2023/30617/index.asp Want to catch the action live? Sign up for Peacock today at http://www...

www.youtube.com

2023-24 Pacific Coast Sectional Singles Final & U.S. Pairs Final:

2024 Pacific Coast Sectional Singles & U.S. Pairs Final

Live Results: https://ijs.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2023/30619/index.asp Want to catch the action live? Sign up for Peacock today at http://www...

www.youtube.com

2023-24 Eastern Sectional Singles Final:

2024 Eastern Sectional Singles Final

Live Results: https://ijs.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2023/30615/index.asp Want to catch the action live? Sign up for Peacock today at http://www...

www.youtube.com

ETA:​

Eeeek, am I confused/gullible?​

I could swear that when I listened earlier to random snippets here and there, the music that I did hear seemed "real," and some programs had muted audio.​

But I just saw a Reddit thread that says that everything has been replaced with copyright-free music? ​

ETA:​

Maybe my bits of spot-checking were too brief? For example, Aleksandr Fegan's true Phantom of the Opera program music starts to play before it goes silent and then other music is substituted.
https://youtu.be/wWyLLO5tTbE?si=6DcxakL04eoVUAZQ&t=2452​

 

[Sylvia]

I was searching the USFS website last night and saw that last year's 2024 Sectional event info pages include this added note under WATCH:
"*Videos from the 2024 Finals are now available for viewing on demand here: https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/watch/?Archive=3432&type=Live. For copyright reasons, audio is not available for these videos. Videos are not available for purchase or download."

ETA: As I posted in the TV Alerts thread this morning, Peacock will be livestreaming all the Senior and Junior events of the 3 Sectionals again this year and the Novice/Intermediate/Juvenile events will be on USFS' YT channel. I will create a competition thread in the Kiss & Cry as soon as the first starting orders are published online (ETA the link): https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...e-finals-ogden-ut-norwood-ma-plano-tx.112259/

For those without K&C access:

Pacific Coast Sectional Singles Final (Wednesday, Nov. 13 to Saturday, Nov. 16) event info: https://www.usfigureskating.org/event/2025-pacific-coast-sectional-singles-final

Eastern Sectional Singles Final & U.S. Pairs Final (Thursday, Nov. 14 to Sunday, Nov. 17) event info: https://www.usfigureskating.org/event/2025-eastern-sectional-singles-and-us-pairs-final

Midwestern Sectional Singles Final & U.S. Dance Final (Wed., Nov. 20 to Sat., Nov. 23) event info: https://www.usfigureskating.org/event/2025-midwestern-sectional-singles-us-ice-dance-final