U.S. Ladies [#28]: Achieving 2020 Vision

[Frau Muller]

It’s telling that even NBC/NBCSN had to replay Bell’s LP last night during the Sat night show. I found it crass that, in the Sat afternoon show, they replayed only Liu...and interviewed only Liu, not even mentioning Bell and the fact that Bell captured the audience! Outrageous!

Then, in the evening live telecast, they made up for it, using the zamboni time before the Dance finals to show and interview Bell (with Liu nowhere in sight). Finally! Thank you, Terry Gannon/NBC Powers.

 

[coppertop1]

They're hyping Liu up as the next one and she won't even be eligible for the senior ranks until 2021-2022. Clearly, people haven't learned. Liu is v talented but give her time.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

Glad that Mariah is more consistent. Great season. Still think Bradie is the better skater. As stated by others, her programs are more complex with more BV in the elements. I'm rooting for both but wish Bradie to be 4CC champ. After a disappointment Bradie comes out with guns blazing.

Alysa is improving but PCS is the 8's is usual tech inflation. With this tech content no American lady an touch her.

Still think Gracie's 2016 FS is the greatest skate by an American lady. The program was so complex and Nicols' choreo great. Contrast with Mariah's you can see how much farther Mariah could go now that her jumps are so solid.

 

[olympic]

With regard to the speculative posts about Worlds: I think the US ladies have a 60-40 shot at obtaining 3 spots for 2021. The top 4 are going to be The Terrific Trio and Kihira. The only movement will be if Kihira can move past someone like Trusova, who really lags in PCS and has certain struggles on quads, and snatches Bronze. I don't think Kihira can touch Shcherbakova or Kostornaya right now. But, breaking up Russian hegemony would be a victory of sorts.

It is more interesting if you look at 5-9: Tennell, Bell, You, Higuchi and Miyahara. I thought the US caught a small break when Sakamoto failed to make the JPN team, but if Higuchi is on fire, then she will pose just as much of a challenge as Sakamoto would have. Anyway, to specifically handicap the outcome of that cluster, it seems Miyahara is in a rebuilding year similar to Mao Asada in the 2011/12 time period, and I think if Tennell / Bell can place higher than her if they maintain and skate as they have been. So, it really becomes a prediction of 5-8. You and a strong Higuchi will be more formidable. You is strong in the SP but her LP is weak(er) because of that ill-fitting music and choreography. Higuchi was weak at the GP series but showed her old self, the world medalist, at JPN Nationals. Her performances at 4CCs will be very telling. In summary, Tennell / Bell can achieve 5-8 if one of them has their best skates, beating You and Higuchi, and the other has a decent skate to finish behind those 2 (but in front of Miyahara) - OR - both are beaten by one of Higuchi / You but both do enough to stay in front of the other for 6-7.

I don't see any other ladies as a threat to 5-9: Tursynbaeva is apparently out. Eun Soo Lim failed to make the Korean team (IIRC), so there is a gap between 9 - 10. The Polish winner Kurakova (?) of the Warsaw Cup is strong (sorry I can't remember her name), as is Alexia Paganini now but those ranked above them 5-9 have a mistake gap

 

[missing]

They're hyping Liu up as the next one and she won't even be eligible for the senior ranks until 2021-2022. Clearly, people haven't learned. Liu is v talented but give her time.

Zagitova was hyped before she turned senior and the current big three in Russia were also hyped as juniors.

Alysa is two time National Champion. She also has technical difficulty the other top US women do not. Hype seems reasonable under the circumstances.

 

[missing]

Team announcements for the women have been made:


Story Links
U.S. Figure Skating has announced its ladies selections for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2020 and ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2020. The teams were selected following the championship-level ladies competition at the 2020 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The World Championships are set for March 16-22, 2020, in Montreal. The Four Continents Championships will run Feb. 3-9, 2020, in Seoul.

Additionally, a pool of eligible ladies skaters has been invited to attend 2020 U.S. World Junior Camp. Selections for the ISU Word Junior Figure Skating Championships 2020 in Tallinn, Estonia, will be announced at the conclusion of the camp.

*Selections, with exception of alternates, are listed in alphabetical order

2020 World Championships

Mariah Bell
Bradie Tennell

Alternate 1 – Karen Chen
Alternate 2 – Amber Glenn
Alternate 3 – Starr Andrews

2020 Four Continents Championships

Karen Chen
Amber Glenn
Bradie Tennell

Alternate 1 – Starr Andrews
Alternate 2 – Gabriella Izzo

2020 U.S. World Junior Team Camp

Starr Andrews
Calista Choi
Isabelle Inthisone
Gabriella Izzo
Alysa Liu
Audrey Shin
Lindsay Thorngren

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

Mariah must have turned down 4CC. I half expected her to go but can't say I'm really all that surprised either.

 

[Karen-W]

Mariah must have turned down 4CC. I half expected her to go but can't say I'm really all that surprised either.

I'm a little surprised she passed on 4CCs. Speculation in the Ladies FS thread was that Karen would turn it down because of her college schedule, so I'm thrilled she is going.

The junior-eligible ladies invited to the selection camp are a solid group. It will be interesting to see which girls are ultimately selected alongside Alysa to compete at Jr Worlds.

 

[Skibean]

I felt Mariah should’ve won. She had a Kwan moment. We haven’t seen that tripe of fan reaction since Michelle. And speaking of Michelle Kwan.....why is she never mentioned? She was the face of US skating, yet they act like she never existed? I find that so irritating and ridiculous.
Bradie is great technically, but I don’t think she could touch Mariah’s overall performance.
Alysa is a cute child. She has the jumps. She has improved. She shouldn’t have beaten Mariah

Karen Chen looking all grown up. I think we tend to forget she’s a full time college student and most of her attention is in studies.




Gracie. Amazing!! I just love her and hope she’ll return

 

[Maximillian]

Based on how Karen skated at Nationals, I'm not at all surprised she didn't turn down 4CCs, she clearly still has her 'head in the game'. Just judging by how past US ladies, who were amongst the top tier before they went to college skated after they enrolled, it's usually pretty clear how committed they still are. I wasn't sure where Karen was based on her GP events, but I think she sent a pretty strong message this week not to count her out just yet.

 

[Stephanie]

Karen could be named to the team and then later decline. IIRC in prior years funding/meeting envelope criteria has been tied to being named to certain teams (or being an alternate to such teams)

Nonetheless I really hope she goes

 

[wickedwitch]

Whatever the reason, I'm thrilled for Amber to get 4CC. That's huge for her.

 

[jiejie]

I felt Mariah should’ve won. She had a Kwan moment. We haven’t seen that tripe of fan reaction since Michelle. And speaking of Michelle Kwan.....why is she never mentioned? She was the face of US skating, yet they act like she never existed? I find that so irritating and ridiculous.

Hmm, you haven't been around here that long, I take it. One of our favorite sports around here is seeing how many threads we can work Michelle Kwan into. She's also mentioned more frequently by laypeople outside our little skating universe, than any other past skater. Which admittedly, isn't saying much given the sport's retreat from general consciousness in the USA.
Purple.

 

[Vagabond]

Expanding on this archived post:

All threads are about Michelle Kwan, but some of the code words that are dead giveaways are:

• Frank Carroll
• Rafael Arutunian
• Scott Williams
• Tara Lipinski
• Gracie Gold
• Tonya Harding
• Denis Ten
• Evan Lysacek
• Carolina Kostner
• Lori Nicol
• Nicole Bobek
• Sasha Cohen
• Chen Lu
• Irina Slutskaya
• Maria Butyrskaya
• Anyone named "Karen"
• Los Angeles
• Southern California
• Colorado
• Utah
• Rhode Island
• politics
• Hillary Clinton
• Joe Biden
• diplomacy
• Grand Prix
• U.S. Nationals
• Olympics
• coach
• train
• injury
• interpretation
• choreography
• competition
• spirals
• jumps
• ice
• skating

 

[BlueRidge]

Whatever the reason, I'm thrilled for Amber to get 4CC. That's huge for her.

I'm willing to get my hopes up with Amber, just because the payoff of a great long program skate would be so amazing.

Any more chances she gets, I'm for it. Come on, Amber, you can do it!

 

[vesperholly]

Glad that Mariah is more consistent. Great season. Still think Bradie is the better skater. As stated by others, her programs are more complex with more BV in the elements. I'm rooting for both but wish Bradie to be 4CC champ. After a disappointment Bradie comes out with guns blazing.

We are getting into figures territory again with this "experts have determined it's harder so it deserves to win". I can appreciate that her programs are more complicated and harder. I still don't like watching them.

 

[vesperholly]

Really surprised Mariah turned down 4CC. Japanese ladies are very inconsistent right now and by no means an insurmountable threat. She absolutely could have medaled or even won.

 

[VGThuy]

Hmm, you haven't been around here that long, I take it. One of our favorite sports around here is seeing how many threads we can work Michelle Kwan into. She's also mentioned more frequently by laypeople outside our little skating universe, than any other past skater. Which admittedly, isn't saying much given the sport's retreat from general consciousness in the USA.
Purple.

I think that poster is talking about NBC. People have joked that once Tara and Johnny became commentators, NBC starting erasing Kwan from skating history.

 

[jlai]

Really surprised Mariah turned down 4CC. Japanese ladies are very inconsistent right now and by no means an insurmountable threat. She absolutely could have medaled or even won.

She has just peaked at nationals, so turning around and peaking again in two weeks is quite hard.

 

[clairecloutier]

Location, location.

4CCs is in South Korea. Would not be surprised if that's why Bell is not going. :-( Or if that's at least part of the reason.

She has competed at 4CCs the last 3 years.

 

[Yazmeen]

Location, location.

4CCs is in South Korea. Would not be surprised if that's why Bell is not going. :-( Or if that's at least part of the reason.

She has competed at 4CCs the last 3 years.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she turned it down because of the ridiculousness with All That Sports and Lim at last year’s Worlds. Why put herself through all that travel right now to face a potentially hostile crowd? She doesn’t need that, and it’s a great opportunity for Amber.

 

[Karen-W]

I wouldn’t be surprised if she turned it down because of the ridiculousness with All That Sports and Lim at last year’s Worlds. Why put herself through all that travel right now to face a potentially hostile crowd? She doesn’t need that, and it’s a great opportunity for Amber.

That makes more sense than the timing. It's not as though the ladies haven't known all season long exactly when Nationals and 4CCs are. ;-)

 

[VGThuy]

I don’t blame her after all that bullying she had to deal with online by the Korean skating fans and random people who started infantilizing Lim beyond belief and took it upon themselves to act like members of the Lim army or whatever terms those fans use these days and went about it but severely attacking Bell and vandalizing her social media and spreading fake news.

 

[feraina]

Mariah doesn’t need to redeem herself the way Bradie does after a disappointing fs at nationals. Also, Rafael’s camp is clearly all about peaking at the right time, especially for the older athletes, as evidenced by Ashley. She’s probably saving herself to peak again at worlds. Getting a good placement there would be so much more important than medaling at 4CC. I just hope she can still get into the last group for the SP.

Also it gives other athletes a chance at an isu championship. In fact I’m surprised Bradie wants to go. Maybe she wants one more chance to build her competitive nerves, self confidence, and reputation with the judges.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Team announcements for the women have been made:


Story Links
U.S. Figure Skating has announced its ladies selections for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2020 and ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2020. The teams were selected following the championship-level ladies competition at the 2020 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The World Championships are set for March 16-22, 2020, in Montreal. The Four Continents Championships will run Feb. 3-9, 2020, in Seoul.

Additionally, a pool of eligible ladies skaters has been invited to attend 2020 U.S. World Junior Camp. Selections for the ISU Word Junior Figure Skating Championships 2020 in Tallinn, Estonia, will be announced at the conclusion of the camp.

*Selections, with exception of alternates, are listed in alphabetical order

2020 World Championships

Mariah Bell
Bradie Tennell

Alternate 1 – Karen Chen
Alternate 2 – Amber Glenn
Alternate 3 – Starr Andrews

2020 Four Continents Championships

Karen Chen
Amber Glenn
Bradie Tennell

Alternate 1 – Starr Andrews
Alternate 2 – Gabriella Izzo

2020 U.S. World Junior Team Camp

Starr Andrews
Calista Choi
Isabelle Inthisone
Gabriella Izzo
Alysa Liu
Audrey Shin
Lindsay Thorngren

Oh crap at first I did not realize Amber is going to 4cc… Until I saw the poster underneath saying Mariah must’ve turned it down. Scrolled back up and I saw Amber’s name. OK great I hope she can just become more focused with the free program in the next couple weeks.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I felt Mariah should’ve won. She had a Kwan moment.

She for sure had a Kwan moment and it’s been a while since we’ve had a Kwan moment. Even with that. Alysa still should be miles ahead. First woman to ever do 2 triple axels, One of those triple axels in combination, first woman to ever do a quad jump, first woman to ever do a quad lutz jump, we need to be realistic even though her artistry is not on par her technical side is universes ahead!

Mariah was rewarded for her moment! 150+ And deservedly so.

This exact same result would have replicated if Alysa could go to a senior event with an international panel. The judges would not have been like well Mariah did do a Kwan moment…

 

[Jammers]

Is Mariah not going because of the nonsense at Worlds last year with her and Eun Soo? Otherwise why miss out on possibly getting a ISU medal.

 

[feraina]

Hey at least people complaining about Liu winning are so consistent — they also complain about the 3A’s (especially Trusova) stratospheric TES and inflated PCS over more mature skaters like Medvedeva.

The same can’t be said about those who defend the 3A’s and keep on saying it’s a sport — I don’t see them coming to Liu’s defense anywhere. Quite to the contrary, in fact.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Mariah doesn’t need to redeem herself the way Bradie does after a disappointing fs at nationals. Also, Rafael’s camp is clearly all about peaking at the right time, especially for the older athletes, as evidenced by Ashley. She’s probably saving herself to peak again at worlds. Getting a good placement there would be so much more important than medaling at 4CC. I just hope she can still get into the last group for the SP.

Also it gives other athletes a chance at an isu championship. In fact I’m surprised Bradie wants to go. Maybe she wants one more chance to build her competitive nerves, self confidence, and reputation with the judges.

?

Bradie Doesn’t seem like a “no” girl, she seems like a “yes” girl. Even going to that far far away B event when she made the GP final.

 

[Skibean]

I haven’t really been posting long- no. I’ll be checking this board for Kwan references now though ???. But I was referring to NBC. No Kwan mentions. I was baffled!! She wasn’t even on the USFSA commercial. She’s the best skater the US had produced, yet they ignore her. I wonder what happened there?