U.S. Pairs 2020-21 season - News & Updates, Part XI

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nylynnr

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Just an addition to the information in the article Sylvia posted above. Jessica began working with Raf's assistant, Hov, following Skate America. In other interviews of the past two years or so, she said she was working with Jenni and Todd on her jumps, and not consulting Raf's group. So (speaking as an outsider here) it's possible timing is an issue; if you have only just started to work with a new coach on jumps, you are likely not going to have immediate success with them.
 

Spiralgraph

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Okay I have no problem with the two teams going to worlds. Now can somebody remind me, pending the minimums required for worlds... how can Alexa and Brandon meet that requirement? No 4CCs after all..
 

Sylvia

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Okay I have no problem with the two teams going to worlds. Now can somebody remind me, pending the minimums required for worlds... how can Alexa and Brandon meet that requirement? No 4CCs after all..
We're waiting for the ISU Communication to be published on this topic: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...s-still-on-for-now.107859/page-7#post-5914642

ETA: Knierim/Frazier wouldn't have had the minimums for 4CC either since Skate America didn't count for ISU SB or TES minimum scores.
 
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Sylvia

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Thank you @clairecloutier for this very informative article on Anastasiia Smirnova and Danil Siianytsia (2020 U.S. Junior Pairs silver medalists):
Excerpts:
Smirnova, 16, and Siianytsia, 20, train in Shakopee, Minnesota, with coach Trudy Oltmanns. However, their skating journey started not in the United States, but in the city of Dnipro, Ukraine, some 5,000 miles from Shakopee. Smirnova and Siianytsia were both born and raised in Dnipro in Russian-speaking families. Both started skating at a young age, even taking lessons at the same rink in Dnipro. However, due in part to their four-year age gap, Smirnova and Siianytsia did not actually get to know each other until years later, when they teamed up in the United States.
It's all part of preparing for what the team hopes will be a full career representing the United States. Both skaters came to the country under P-1 performance visas and are now moving through the process to gain U.S. citizenship. Siianytsia chose to pursue citizenship after he moved to Minnesota.
"I love representing the United States," Siianytsia said. "I never got a chance to compete for Ukraine. But going out under Team USA has been pretty awesome."
"Everything's going along perfectly," Oltmanns said of the citizenship process. "The plan is to have it before 2026."
This local Iowa article on their coach, Trudy Oltmanns, details how they relocated to train in Sioux City in December 2020 because of the rink closures in Minnesota:
 

LL22

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Well, IDK. 'Doing a quad' isn't quite accurate, is it? Did they ever land it cleanly in a competition?
This is the comment that prompted my response. I said she fell in the message prior and you still wrote this. I agree, let’s be done, it’s stupid.
Skaters who qualified through ISP were not allowed to "compete" at that Sectionals comp, so McNate couldn't do any more comps.
C/H were in both ISP challenges and competed at Skate American and still did sectionals as well. Did they need a score to qualify that they hadn’t yet achieved?
Boy you don’t like her do
I don’t like seeing, what seems to me, as so many excuses on many different platforms (interviews, social media) from an athlete. Every athlete and team has different hardships, especially this year, where everyone suffered in some way. Her post read as an excuse to me, no one else’s did and I read everyone’s.
 

Sylvia

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McBeath/Bartholomay competed in the ISP Points Challenge second opportunity only after they were added to the ISP. They placed ahead of Chan/Howe overall (standings: https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/...llenge_Senior_Pairs_Results_Overall.pdf?id=74 ) to get the final bye to Nationals and that's why Chan/Howe had to compete at the Nationals qualifying virtual event (not sectionals) and M/B didn't/weren't allowed to enter.
 

olympic

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I don't think we should be so worried about tech mins- IMO that would be insane to require them this year, if Worlds happens. I don't think ISU is that malicious.
Nah. This pandemic is really one of the greatest crises on the planet in my lifetime. There is no way the ISU sticks with business as usual. They are completely oblivious a--holes if they do.
 

haribobo

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C/H were in both ISP challenges and competed at Skate American and still did sectionals as well. Did they need a score to qualify that they hadn’t yet achieved?

Yes- the 4 teams qualifying to Nationals through ISP were McNate, Knierim/Frazier, Serafini/Tran, and Lu/Mitrofanov. Of these 4, only McNate was not invited to Skate America. Chan/Howe finished 1 point behind McNate in ISP, so finished 5th of the teams who didn't already have byes to Nationals in that, so they had to do that Sectionals replacement comp.
 

shan

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Thank you @clairecloutier for this very informative article on Anastasiia Smirnova and Danil Siianytsia (2020 U.S. Junior Pairs silver medalists):
Excerpts:


This local Iowa article on their coach, Trudy Oltmanns, details how they relocated to train in Sioux City in December 2020 because of the rink closures in Minnesota:

Great article! Looking forward to seeing juniors compete this week! :)
 

Carolla5501

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Nah. This ********* is really one of the greatest crises on the planet in my lifetime. There is no way the ISU sticks with business as usual. They are completely oblivious a--holes if they do.


But what's the solution. Let everyone come. So did you just dramatically increase the number of attendees and thereby put everyone at risk?

Let the countries whose skaters made minimums last time and earned X spots send whomever they like regardless? Hardly seems fair but maybe that's what they do.
 

Carolla5501

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This is the comment that prompted my response. I said she fell in the message prior and you still wrote this. I agree, let’s be done, it’s stupid.

C/H were in both ISP challenges and competed at Skate American and still did sectionals as well. Did they need a score to qualify that they hadn’t yet achieved?

I don’t like seeing, what seems to me, as so many excuses on many different platforms (interviews, social media) from an athlete. Every athlete and team has different hardships, especially this year, where everyone suffered in some way. Her post read as an excuse to me, no one else’s did and I read everyone’s.

And since you have can read minds you know what she was thinking and attacked. LOL!
I think it's time for me to quit reading your posts.
 

LilJen

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P.S. - I miss K/O and P/S. In fact, I miss that bigger muddle of skaters at the top from yesteryear that has been thinned out due to break-ups and other things. I understand Danny left skating but these pairs ranked towards the front of the pack made nationals more interesting. At 2020 Nationals, P/S showed a lot of improvement but now they are gone to chase Swiss visas (or something).
I knew K/O had split, but. . . Danny has left skating???? I'm not in on the goings-on these days. It would be a spectacular shame if he left skating.
 

Spun Silver

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skylark

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The official announcement said that both plan to continue to complete.
The article said they both plan to continue skating. Didn't say anything about competing.

Having said that, I do hope to see both competing in the future, especially Danny. But he's 30 next month. Not that that means anything necessarily, but it may be a factor.
 

PairSkater12345

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The article said they both plan to continue skating. Didn't say anything about competing.

Having said that, I do hope to see both competing in the future, especially Danny. But he's 30 next month. Not that that means anything necessarily, but it may be a factor.
Oh Really, So do you think he may be skating on a cruise ship or in a park somewhere? It's obvious the statement in their announcement "plan continue skating" means competitively. What do you mean by bringing up his age and why his age may be a factor?
 
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Spun Silver

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The article said they both plan to continue skating. Didn't say anything about competing.

Having said that, I do hope to see both competing in the future, especially Danny. But he's 30 next month. Not that that means anything necessarily, but it may be a factor.
See this story. Same content but slightly different wording.
 

olympic

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The official announcement said that both plan to continue to complete.
Sorry if I misunderstood all that in my earlier post. I thought another poster had stated that Danny retired. Random thought - I always thought he'd make a good partner for Haven ...
 

PairSkater12345

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just tuned in

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This quote from Tarah struck me: “I look forward to continuing my competitive skating career with the guidance of my coaches, Jim Peterson and Amanda Evora.”

Is Danny still with Sappenfield? Just speculating whether a disagreement about the coaching team was a precursor to the split.
 

PairSkater12345

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This quote from Tarah struck me: “I look forward to continuing my competitive skating career with the guidance of my coaches, Jim Peterson and Amanda Evora.”

Is Danny still with Sappenfield? Just speculating whether a disagreement about the coaching team was a precursor to the split.
Somewhere as an official announcement K/O as a team announced their departure from Sappenfield.
 

Sylvia

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I don't believe I've posted Knierim/Frazier's Nationals performances here (NBC Sports' videos are geoblocked outside USA):

SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvPiPUvMDJw

FS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5PW1Dfqugg

ETA some of the comments posted by @olympic in their fan thread:
A breathtaking 1st year. No serious criticisms can be made. They skate with freedom because as Brandon said, they trust one another (landing the jumps, not looking over their shoulders)

Going forward, they will need to develop their own style and take that next step. <snip>
Otherwise on the tech side, just nit-picking: Nail down the SBS triple combo and perhaps go for a 3-2-2 to maximize points. JW pointed out that it would be nice to see the SBS triples closer together (Tara's response was spot-on: An American pair is landing triples. I'll take it as it is!) I can't really think of another element that they execute where I would say 'that needs work' even after just 1 year. Throws and twist are big. Good synch on the SBS spins. Jumps rotated and landed.

I think what will drive up their scores internationally is getting that sense of style and adding some more flourish to each of those elements, accents on music and all that. Again, a 3 jump combo is the one element that will pump up their BV the most.
 

skylark

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Oh Really, So do you think he may be skating on a cruise ship or in a park somewhere? It's obvious the statement in their announcement "plan continue skating" means competitively. What do you mean by bringing up his age and why his age may be a factor?
Good heavens. Settle down. There's no need to act like an attacking pit bull.

I didn't think it was obvious. I guess I just read the statement literally, or thought that Tarah and Danny were being careful, but I certainly meant no offense to Danny. As a matter of fact, I've been in love with Danny as a skater from the time I saw him practicing at 2016 Nationals and loved his spectacular, authentic smiles. Seeing a skater who's enjoying skating ... that's the best. I hope he does continue competing, because he's a great pairs skater and partner who has a lot to give.

The fact is, Danny seems much younger than his actual age, and age is relevant because at least two male pairs skaters that I know of have made comments about how being around that age affected them: Maxim Trankov, when he was approaching 30 and related it to not wishing to skate 2 programs for the Olympic Team event as well as 2 for the individual olympic event; and Chris Knierim, when he was announcing retirement and mentioned his age (32, I think) as a factor.
 

skylark

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Sorry if I misunderstood all that in my earlier post. I thought another poster had stated that Danny retired. Random thought - I always thought he'd make a good partner for Haven ...
That's interesting. Any chance you'd say more about that? I'm especially interested, since the thought had occurred to you before. I would love to see a Haven and Danny pairing, they're both exquisite skaters and come to think of it, they might match in the expression department. I'd just really like to see them both skate for a few more years.
 
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