U.S. Pairs 2021-22 season - News & Updates, Part X

jlb5329 said:
The rumor is Lu/Mitrofanov have split.
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Rukia said:
Wow that would be massive. They were poised to seriously move up after this season.
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Maybe. For all the big tricks, they have no visible chemistry as partners and are still lacking on the performance side as a team. That’s a huge issue, considering how long they’ve been together and the fact that they’re individually both very talented. I know a lot of people want them to be the next big thing in U.S. pairs skating, but I suspect their ceiling if they stay together might be lower than people are hoping. On the other hand, it’s not like it would be easy for either one of them to find a new partner with that technical skill level, so maybe it would be worth sticking it out. I just wouldn’t be completely shocked if they split.
 
I'm just going to point something out here...

We have a brand-new poster who has all of TWO posts denying (in its first post) that Calalang/Johnson have split and throwing out the rumor (in its second post) that instead, the split is Lu/Mitrofanov.

Take what's been said with a huge grain of salt...
 
Trillian said:
Maybe. For all the big tricks, they have no visible chemistry as partners and are still lacking on the performance side as a team. That’s a huge issue, considering how long they’ve been together and the fact that they’re individually both very talented. I know a lot of people want them to be the next big thing in U.S. pairs skating, but I suspect their ceiling if they stay together might be lower than people are hoping. On the other hand, it’s not like it would be easy for either one of them to find a new partner with that technical skill level, so maybe it would be worth sticking it out. I just wouldn’t be completely shocked if they split.
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Same.

They appear to have great chemistry off the ice, but it just hasn't translated on the ice. I don't think their programs and packaging have helped either.

They're also at the age where they might want to move on with school and life.

Either way, I enjoyed how quirky they were. The pieces never seem to quite fit even when they were clean, but they seem like genuinely nice, hard working people and I'm a sucker for that. :shuffle:

Good luck to them, whatever path they choose to follow. :cheer2:
 
Karen-W said:
I'm just going to point something out here...

We have a brand-new poster who has all of TWO posts denying (in its first post) that Calalang/Johnson have split and throwing out the rumor (in its second post) that instead, the split is Lu/Mitrofanov.

Take what's been said with a huge grain of salt...
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ITA. Why would they split just before Worlds? However, I could also see a split because I believe that Mitrofanov wants to become a physician and that's a long haul. But that wouldn't account for split at this point in the season.
 
Karen-W said:
I'm just going to point something out here...

We have a brand-new poster who has all of TWO posts denying (in its first post) that Calalang/Johnson have split and throwing out the rumor (in its second post) that instead, the split is Lu/Mitrofanov.

Take what's been said with a huge grain of salt...
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The post denying C/J have split came from well known poster @jkl . The split post came from @jlb5329 who has been a member since 2017, and they stated outright that it was a rumor.

I think Elena Bechke's comment threw everyone for a loop and it doesn't take much for the rumor mill to get started.

Maybe this will be like Alysa's new sp. We speculate for a few pages and then it's revealed it was someone else when we're 500 posts in. :rofl:
 
Mayra said:
The post denying C/J have split came from well known poster @jkl . The split post came from @jlb5329 who has been a member since 2017, and they stated outright that it was a rumor.

I think Elena Bechke's comment threw everyone for a loop and it doesn't take much for the rumor mill to get started.

Maybe this will be like Alysa's new sp. We speculate for a few pages and then it's revealed it was someone else when we're 500 posts in. :rofl:
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LOL - yeah, and I missed that the denial came from one poster and the rumor from another. I do trust @jkl's word, but I have a hard time trusting the rumor since just a week ago LuMit were skating together in a show.

Also, recall that Elena Bechke works with lower level skaters, so she might have been referring to a junior or novice team rather than a senior team. I'm not savvy or desperate enough to keep an eagle eye on IPS either. :)
 
AngieNikodinovLove said:
How in the world is her name popping up here? I mean that’s well over two decades ago. Three decades ago? She was with Denis Petrov ?
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Elena Bechke was recently interviewed and she made a comment about the "third US team" breaking up. She's still around and coaches in America, it's not like people are bringing up something she said in 1992 lol
 
Frau Muller said:
I heard Bechke’s comment, too. Nobody specified. It could be any of the top-6 or 7 Sr teams at ‘22 Nationals. Or the new Danny O’Shae-and-partner team that was injured in Europe. Who knows?
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She said the third team. So not too 6 or 7???
 
olympic said:
^FTR, I really hope it is not true. But if that is the case, WHOM would he pair with? It's not like the US has an abundance of riches in Pairs skating partners, and would that be a reason to leave? I mean, they have almost everything else: She lands some serious throw jumps, their twist and lifts are the best in the biz, and most importantly, their bodies are evenly matched which makes the team stand out. I hope she works through the jumps. RA said it would take a while for anyone to successfully relearn technique.
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I wouldn’t think it would take as long when they are learning 2 jumps vs a single skater to relearn 5
 
Karen-W said:
I'm just going to point something out here...

We have a brand-new poster who has all of TWO posts denying (in its first post) that Calalang/Johnson have split and throwing out the rumor (in its second post) that instead, the split is Lu/Mitrofanov.

Take what's been said with a huge grain of salt...
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I would think it would be C/J over L/M. I also saw that Brandon talked about L/M as future of US pairs. Wouldn’t he bring up his training mates as one of them.
 
Sylvia said:
@Arch- just wondering which young U.S. pairs you are referring to?

The new pair of Elie Kam/Ian Meyh (who improved noticeably during their 2 Championship Series qualifying comps) are based at the Broadmoor arena but they had to withdraw after their 4th place Junior SP at Nationals. :(

Of the teams that competed at 2022 Nationals, the now two-time U.S. Junior pairs silver medalists Isabelle Martins/Ryan Bedard have been together the longest - since April 2015 starting at the Juvenile level! They train in the Chicago area with Stefania Berton & Rockne Brubaker and are slated to compete in their final Junior Worlds in March with Smirnova/Siianytsia.

ETA:

The young pair I'm really looking forward to to watching next season is Sonia Baram & Daniel Tioumentsev (2022 Junior champs) who will be ISU Junior age-eligible for 2022-23 only. I also was very impressed by the highest scoring Intermediate pair this season, Saya Carpenter & Jon Maravilla, coached by Jim Peterson & Amanda Evora in Canton, Michigan.
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@Sylvia Sorry for the delay. I had some travel issues and then the Oly came.

First: Weirdly, The Jr & Sr male partners in the US, at current, are significantly more talented and in flux then female talent. Other than, from what I understand, the two hubs for pairs being on opposite sides of the county, I'm not sure how this happened.

I think Sonia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev are great, in theory, but she's 13 and he'll be 20 in March. He is an extremely very talented male partner, who i think would be in high demand, but he and his previous partner, i believe, parted unexpectedly in March of 2021 and he needed a partner quick. They were already training, I think, in the same rink (though if I recall his previous partner's parents were his coach?) as Meno/Sand's group, and they'd wanted to see if Sonia liked pairs, for a future partner and allow Dan to continue training. The success was unexpected.

She must be a pair's prodigy, because she instinctively learned very difficult partnering skills in an absurd time period. I hope she listens and gets this idea of being able to single and pair skate at the highest level at the same time out of her mind and go to full time pairs, like now. Looking at her & her dad in a pic online, he has a compact body type (short), and the proportions of the length of her arms/legs/neck, leads me to think she will naturally be a good sized partner.

I do not think Dan is going to want to skate Jr for 2 more years, then take an entire competition season off because he will be too old for Jr and she'll still be too young for Sr. Definitely if they raise the ages to 16/22. Especially since he is seeing Russians around his own age medaling at the Olympics this year. I feel they are both just stand ins for each other honestly.

I actually thought Elie Kam/Ian Meyh had been together for a while, sorry. I find them interesting to watch bc they look to be a well suited team. As in, very comfortable/trusting with each other. Other than that, I'm not sure.

I boycot Jr teams for the season who's coaches force them to skate to inappropriate music for their age. Young girls in pairs skating should not be pretending to be sexually exploited or prostitutes. So no Mulan Rouge, Carmen, & especially Hey Big Spender. So I didn't watch Anastasiia Smirnova & Danil Siianytsia this year. Visually they look like a team with potentially great lines. I think this is the team I really liked in 2020.

I can't put my finger on it, but I see a lot of Rockne Brubaker in Isabelle Martins and Ryan Bedard. I'm glad he cut his hair. I have followed them bc I really thought they really showed great potential. I like them a lot but they may not be right for each other. She needs to quit wasting her time doing singles & use that time to stretch & take class. He devotes 100% and so should she.

They have been together for a decent amount of time and both look talented, but at their age this year; they HAVE to increase their skills/difficulty/finishing of every position. Especially her and her elbows. I remember Rockne had major back issues as a competitor. Maybe he is following a plan which is more conservative in nature, simular to a ballet pas de deux path? She turns or is 16 this year so it's time to go full force. They should have the timing, gravity force, and finding grip placements more than basically under control now. At this point, it looks like her boobs are her boobs. Her hips are her hips. The adjustment period is over. I do not understand why this pair isn't better.

Off point: Audrey Lu was much better at 4CC with her exuberance & performance. So she can do it, which I was wrong about. I still think one of the future requirements will be a triple/triple of some kind, and/or quad throws, & either her delayed rotation is her way to slow down the triple throw rotation and the quad throws will come more naturally, or they won't happen at all.

I would love to be Russian and just get them in a group all together, seperate the current pairs, test skate, then pair them based on similar qualities and lines myself....if you want to be a single's skater, go give 100% to single's. I want 100% effort from both partners. I'd need Sylvia's help OF COURSE. Then maybe we can have 3 of the top 4 at championships.

I hope this is what you were asking for 😀 If not let me know.
 
AngieNikodinovLove said:
How in the world is her name popping up here? I mean that’s well over two decades ago. Three decades ago? She was with Denis Petrov ?

I got some big big news for all y’all as well. I heard that Brooke Castille and Ben Okolski have split

I’m very much in the know!!
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You are clearly not a TSL fan :p
 
She said "rumors". Of course, there were (unfounded) rumors that C/J were breaking up before we found out that it was the doping issue. Rumors are just that... rumors.
 
Official splits are generally not announced by teams who receive envelope money until the last payment is made, which, IIRC, is at the end of the season. It's possible for teams to remain visible until then, including to fulfill commitments.

That doesn't mean anyone is splitting, just that I wouldn't expect announcements quite yet.
 
You know if we are going to be precise here, C/J are the third team. Yes L/M came in third at Nationals because K/F had withdrawn. But K/F are clearly our #1 team, C-G/L second, C/J third and L/M fourth. Just saying.
 
tylersf said:
Because there seems to be a romantic element in pairs and ice dance, do these people practice those lifts at home to integrate them into their personal lives and activities?
Furthermore, are some of these lifts inspired by what they do in their personal lives?
I'm thinking many of these people have high ceilings in their homes.
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I think nothing screams romance more than a man throwing a woman across a room.
 
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