U.S. Men 2019-20 season - news & updates

[misskarne]

He's also WD from Rostelecom

That sounds like an injury to me - I hope it's not too serious!

 

[danafan]

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“It’s really difficult to balance classes and training at the same time,” said Zhou, who is in the middle of his freshman year at Brown University. “I want to perform at the highest level on the ice and in the classroom, and I have not been able to dedicate the necessary time to my skating with my rigorous class schedule. Unfortunately, the timing of my midterms has fallen right in the middle of an important training period for me this fall. This was a tough decision because I love to perform in front of the fans, but this is the best decision for me right now

 

[Spun Silver]

Selfish reaction: Phooey. I'm glad he's not injured though!

 

[Tinami Amori]

Welcome to U.S. Figure Skating

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Good for him! very proud of him. Education comes before sports!

 

[aftershocks]

Article mostly about Nathan’s FS: https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019...-america-crown/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Thanks for sharing. There's an obvious error when they state that Philip Warren is 'a U.S. skater.' Warren is a U.S. citizen who learned to skate in California, training with Richard Dornbush under Tammy Gambill. But Warren has family ties to France, and he now represents France, the last I heard.

 

[feraina]

Just goes to show how superhuman Nathan Chen is.

 

[misskarne]

I'm glad it's not an injury.

I am surprised at the last-minute withdrawal though. I thought mid-term dates were fixed?

 

[Marco]

I think it is absolutely understandable for Vincent to focus on his studies instead. There is probably less flexibility to take time off as a freshman.

This is a mid-Olympic season so the stakes are lower. His domestic competition isn't terribly tough aside from Nathan. He has won Jr Worlds, been to the Olympics, and medalled at 4CCs and Worlds. I don't know if he feels he can achieve more. I agree with his priorities. Even if he is to announce his retirement today I would find it absolutely reasonable.

 

[barbarafan]

Just goes to show how superhuman Nathan Chen is.

We haven't seen his marks yet.

 

[meer]

Vincent's schedule was really tough with back to back GPs in China and Russia. He'd probably have to miss more than a couple weeks of school just to go to both since flying back to the US just doesn't seem reasonable. And if he's not up to his usual standard I can see how it just didn't work out for him. He'll have a month to get ready for nationals after school ends, so it should work out for him.

 

[Dobre]

You just can't know what college is like until you are there. Late October--that's about when it really hit me. We had our first four day weekend--Fall Break--which meant my first chance to drive home. I had a Mid-term Bio Lab exam scheduled for two days after the weekend. The lab didn't open for studying until the first day of break AKA we couldn't get into the lab with all the specimens, etc. before break. This meant that if I left campus for break, I would only have one night to study.

I went home.

I had no idea what a Mid-term lab exam required. I would never have been able to study for it all in that one night. Fortunately, everyone else chose to leave campus too and even our bio teacher (who was basically teaching the class as though it was designed for weeding out all the Freshmen who weren't really dedicated to being bio majors) gave in and pushed the exam back until the end of the week.

Anyway, the point being, you don't know what it's going to be like until you're in it.

 

[Spiralgraph]

I'm a little surprised by Vincent's decision, but I probably shouldn't be. Education is very important to him and only he and his family/team know how much he can juggle skating vs studying. He'll still be top three at Nationals anyway so if he needs to focus on Brown University, he knows best.

 

[flyingsit]

I just wish he'd withdrawn from Canada sooner so there was time for another skater to have the opportunity to compete there.

 

[Firedancer]

I just wish he'd withdrawn from Canada sooner so there was time for another skater to have the opportunity to compete there.

Vincent withdrew from Cup of China & Rostelecom Cup.

 

[Sylvia]

Vincent's message as posted yesterday on his IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/B38BMLnHxsX/

It's been difficult for me to reach the conclusion that the best thing for me is to withdraw from my Grand Prixs, Cup of China and Rostelecom Cup. The training situation here in Providence has been very difficult even without my school commitment factored in, and after all, I must put academics ahead of everything else. With midterms going on right now, I have not been able to put in the necessary time and energy into training and preparing to compete. I'm sorry -- but I hope to be back and better than ever soon. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support!

 

[Sylvia]

Really poignant words from Camden Pulkinen about Joshua Farris (frmr junior world champ/2015 US bronze medalist), who choreographed his "Caruso" SP this season. "His past I think will help my future."

Camden's quote is embedded here: https://twitter.com/NickMcCarvel/status/1187519062122717184

Fun clip from the Men's SP presser last night: https://www.instagram.com/p/B4EeIUgIEqs/

 

[Tavi]

Camden's quote is embedded here: https://twitter.com/NickMcCarvel/status/1187519062122717184

Fun clip from the Men's SP presser last night: https://www.instagram.com/p/B4EeIUgIEqs/

I didn’t hear the whole presser so Im kind of having a hard time with that quote. Can anyone tell me the context?

 

[Sylvia]

More clips from the Men's SP presser last night (3 tweets):

Nick McCarvel on Twitter

““Being here now is really surreal.” Hear @CamdenPulk speak about his experience Friday night at #SCI19, which left him 2nd after the SP #GPFigure https://t.co/nxKeNfZUrl”

twitter.com

Article published on Oct. 25 before Pulkinen's Senior GP debut (embedded video of him is USFS' "Portrait of a Skater" feature that was posted here 3 months ago):

With a Long Lens on His Young Career, Camden Pulkinen Makes Senior Grand Prix Debut - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

U.S. junior champion, two World Junior Championships appearances, Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

ETA:

I didn’t hear the whole presser so Im kind of having a hard time with that quote. Can anyone tell me the context?

Nick McCarvel's tweet that I linked was dated Oct. 24 so that quote was before the start of the Skate Canada competition. McCarvel wrote a feature article on Farris a few years ago so it's not surprising to me that he asked Camden about Josh's role as a choreographer and mentor for him.

I haven't come across a video of the entire Men's SP presser yet. Camden did mention he had a nosebleed during his SP (excerpt from the Olympic Channel's recap article):

Pulkinen landed a quad toe loop, a triple Axel and a triple Lutz, triple toe loop in a solid skate that earned him a score of 89.05.
The American says he suffered a nosebleed during his performance but didn't let it get in the way of a personal best score.
"After my second spin I felt my nose bleeding," said Camden. "So I don't know if you noticed. If you watch in the end I had, like, a blood moustache!
"I knew that I had to do it regardless and whether it's a bloody nose or a mistake you kind of have to get past it and focus on the skate at the end of the day."

 

[DreamSkates]

Pulkinen's Senior GP - short program. Wow! So proud of him.

 

[DreamSkates]

Vincent's message as posted yesterday on his IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/B38BMLnHxsX/

Ok, so school is his priority and it is his first year. Looking forward to seeing him at Nationals.

 

[wickedwitch]

So I haven't checked everyone, but I checked the most obvious suspects, and I believe Camden had the highest GP debut combined PCS for any man ever. PCS have gone up overall, so it's not extremely meaningful, but it's still impressive.

While I would have loved to see him medal, overall his performance completely exceeded my expectations. There are definitely improvements to be made, but the foundations are there.

 

[Colonel Green]

I was impressed by Camden. I joked earlier that perhaps his team found him a hypnotist, but between this and the Autumn Classic it seems like he's learned to handle competitive stress much better.

 

[Tavi]

So I haven't checked everyone, but I checked the most obvious suspects, and I believe Camden had the highest GP debut combined PCS for any man ever. PCS have gone up overall, so it's not extremely meaningful, but it's still impressive.

While I would have loved to see him medal, overall his performance completely exceeded my expectations. There are definitely improvements to be made, but the foundations are there.

I think Camden did very well at his GP debut - he scored nearly 90 in the SP, landed his 4T, and increased his SB by about 30 points. He should be proud of himself.

But no, he didn’t have the highest scoring GP debut even among US men - in 2016 Nathan scored 264+ at his debut in France. That was under the old system, with one more jumping pass and maximum plus 3 GOE, and as you note, PCS has been inflating for years. So the two numbers aren’t really comparable. Under the current system I think Samsonov has a higher SB than Camden - but he’s still in junior Grand Prix.

 

[wickedwitch]

But no, he didn’t have the highest scoring GP debut even among US men - in 2016 Nathan scored 264+ at his debut in France. That was under the old system, with one more jumping pass and maximum plus 3 GOE, and as you note, PCS has been inflating for years. So the two numbers aren’t really comparable. Under the current system I think Samsonov has a higher SB than Camden - but he’s still in junior Grand Prix.

I said he had the highest combined PCS. Notably, higher than Shoma's or Nathan's.

 

[Sylvia]

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[Carolla5501]

I'm glad it's not an injury.

I am surprised at the last-minute withdrawal though. I thought mid-term dates were fixed?

They are

I think skaters saw Nathan do this and went “oh I can do it too”. Probably not as realistic as they expected. Nathan is an exceptional case probably not the rule for skaters attending college full time at a school a long way from their coach

 

[olympic]

Proud of Camden. He stepped out of his simplest jumping passes in the LP. LOL. He probably would have reached 250 without those mistakes. Nonetheless, he exceeded expectations and I hope he builds on this progress. Does he have another GP?

 

[Sylvia]

France: Nathan, Tomoki's GP debut
China: Camden
Russia: Alex K.
NHK: Jason, Tomoki

Asian Open Trophy next week: Ryan Dunk (CS debut), Andrew Torgashev

ETA ISU SB total scores of the 10 U.S. men over 200 points so far this season:

2 299.09 Nathan CHEN USA ISU GP Skate America 2019 (gold)
9 255.09 Jason BROWN USA ISU GP Skate America 2019 (silver)
13 244.78 Camden PULKINEN USA ISU GP Skate Canada International 2019 (4th)
19 231.95 Vincent ZHOU USA ISU CS U.S. Int. Figure Skating Classic 2019 (bronze)
21 230.11 Alexei KRASNOZHON USA ISU CS U.S. Int. Figure Skating Classic 2019 (4th)
39 214.82 Tomoki HIWATASHI USA ISU CS U.S. Int. Figure Skating Classic 2019 (5th)
40 213.49 Jimmy MA USA ISU CS Finlandia Trophy 2019 (4th)
43 212.86 Andrew TORGASHEV USA ISU JGP Croatia Cup 2019 (4th)
52 205.90 Ryan DUNK USA ISU JGP Baltic Cup 2019 (6th)
56 203.47 Ilia MALININ USA ISU JGP Egna-Neumarkt 2019 (7th; JR in U.S.)

 

[Tavi]

I said he had the highest combined PCS. Notably, higher than Shoma's or Nathan's.

I’m sorry if I misunderstood you, but my point - that you can’t compare scores earned a few years ago, under a different scoring system with scores earned today - still stands as to PCS. There is a huge difference in the average PCS awarded to top male and female skaters 5 or 6 years ago and what is awarded today. Camden had a great debut. But I’m just not sure the fact that his total PCS in 2019 was about a point higher than Shoma’s in 2015 is particularly meaningful.

 

[olympic]

I thought Jimmy Ma scored 219 somewhere this season? Perhaps a local comp