U.S. Women [#2]: The Unbearable Lightness of Beijing

[Theatregirl1122]

I'm glad Alysa didn't have to deal with TE pressure which no doubt set her up well to excel in the individual event.

Right, except she would have an Olympic medal and now she doesn't. That's a pretty big difference.

Realistically, none of the ladies would have changed the outcome. Although there was maybe no way to know that at the time. The only question is which lady was going to get the medal.

 

[Maximillian]

Right, except she would have an Olympic medal and now she doesn't. That's a pretty big difference.

Realistically, none of the ladies would have changed the outcome. Although there was maybe no way to know that at the time. The only question is which lady was going to get the medal.

I don't think any of these three ladies showed anything that any one of them "deserved" a TE medal over the other. None of them were close to a medal in the individual event, and that's totally fine. But Karen's two pre-Olympic 4th place finishes at Worlds, two Olympic appearances and National title would seem to provide just as 'worthy' a CV as Liu's 7th place finish in the IE and score at Lombardia (which is somehow important) or Bell's 10th place finish and National title. There's very little that separates them when it comes to their less than overwhelming CVs.

 

[Allskate]

We will never know how Alysa would have skated if she had been in the team event. Maybe she would have had an experience like Nathan did last Olympics. Maybe she would have been less prepared if she had arrived earlier and skated in the team event. Or, maybe she would have skated great.

Maybe a mistake in the team event could have adversely affected her in the individual event. (I wouldn't be surprised if that's what happened with Karen and the loop.) Maybe the team event would have tired her out for the individual event.

We will never know. I don't think it would have changed the ultimate results for the team. And I'm very happy that Alysa had such good skates in the individual event and appears to be having so much fun.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Since Karen is injured, it

What happened

 

[Frau Muller]

Since Karen is injured, it might be best to have the alternate take her spot at Worlds. I wish Chen could have had a better skating experience at these Games, especially after being such a pinch hitter for the US at pre-Olympic worlds.

Bell and Liu both skated to their ability. Good for them! Hope Liu sticks around and continues to become the best skater she can be.

Lindsay Thorngren?!

 

[Karen-W]

What happened

She has a sprained ankle. I linked her IG post about it earlier today.

 

[olympic]

Congrats to Alysa Liu and Mariah Bell, in the LP ...

 

[wickedwitch]

Since Karen is injured, it might be best to have the alternate take her spot at Worlds. I wish Chen could have had a better skating experience at these Games, especially after being such a pinch hitter for the US at pre-Olympic worlds.

Bell and Liu both skated to their ability. Good for them! Hope Liu sticks around and continues to become the best skater she can be.

I'd be happy for Lindsay (although sad for Karen) in that case, especially because she's going to likely miss out on junior worlds.

ETA: I was wrong about the alternate, so I guess I'll be happy for Amber, who is my personal favorite of the top US women.

 

[Stephanie]

I'd be happy for Lindsay (although sad for Karen) in that case, especially because she's going to likely miss out on junior worlds.

Amber is the first alternate for worlds (Lindsay was the first alternate for the Olympics presumably because of Amber catching c****)

 

[Sylvia]

She has a sprained ankle. I linked her IG post about it earlier today.

Karen, part 2: https://www.instagram.com/p/CaFqKG-Ppk9/

i have no words to explain this whole entire olympic experience so far. from spraining my ankle falling down stairs to standing in line to get a bing dwen dwen toy & to all those emotional tears of joy & sadness i shed… i’m so thankful to experience it all. i’ve seriously been enjoying this whole entire time; what a bittersweet feeling knowing that it’s all coming to an end so soon. so grateful to have these memories.

Karen, part 1 (right after her FS): https://www.instagram.com/p/CaFaCt2pkFx/

reminding myself that this does not define me. I am more than my skating. thank you all for the love & kindness. it is so very much appreciated. more thoughts to be shared soon

Alysa after her FS: https://www.instagram.com/p/CaFPA5mLNd7/

YALL WORDS CANNOT EXPLAIN HOW HAPPY I AM. this olympics exceeded all my expectations!! i never thought my olympic experience would be this fun. skating two clean programs here is something i always dreamed of and the fact that it actually happened makes me cry LMAOOO. i’m so proud of my friends who skated here because they worked sosososo hard for this and they went through so much AND THEY ALL DID AMAZING IM GONNA CRY AGAIN. hanging out with friends around the village and eating meals with them has given me SO many good memories that i will have forever. i still can’t believe how good this olympics went for me and my friends! i’m so glad i got the chance to be at the olympics. in all honesty, y’all wouldn’t even believe how much i’ve been through but i can finally say that it was 100% worth it AHAHAHAHJAKFKEKFHSK. since the day i landed in beijing i’ve had so much fun. best experience in my life so far

USA Today Sports' tweeted 4-minute video about/interrview with Mariah before she skated her FS: https://twitter.com/usatodaysports/status/1494115630533906434

 

[Sylvia]

USFS Fan Zone article by Darci Miller with quotes from all three:

Alysa Liu Leads U.S. Women With Seventh-Place Finish in Beijing - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

When Alysa Liu tested positive for COVID-19 between the short program and the free skate of the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships, she thought her Olympic

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

At just 16 years old, Liu was unsure how she would hold up on the world's biggest stage.
"It's the Olympics," she said. "Ever since I was younger, I thought I was going to be so nervous here. I wasn't super confident that I was going to do clean programs, and I did."
Following her free skate, Liu cried in the green room and again when speaking with media – tears of joy not only for herself, but for how well her friends did.

Bell, who was in the green room before Liu was, was able to intercept her on her way there to give her a hug.
"It was cool to see Alysa skate so well," Bell said. "You want it for everybody. You want everybody to have their moment because we work so hard."
Ultimately, Liu says her first Olympic experience exceeded her expectations and is the most fun she's ever had in figure skating. While the controversy made a lot of noise, she didn't let it get to her.
"When I skate, I don't really think about it because I'm skating, so I'm like, 'I've got to focus on this jump and so I don't fall on these rockers,'" Liu said. "And it didn't bring my spirits down, either, because I'm at the Olympics. I don't think anything could."

After a fall in the short program, Bell skated a clean free skate and had the Olympic moment she'd always dreamed of.
"It means everything to me," Bell said. "Coming in, I just wanted that moment, and you really want to have that moment after a long program. After a short is great, but after a long is the last thing that you leave on the ice, so to be able to do that, I'm just really proud."
After having to fight to stand up on some of her jumps, Bell's prevailing emotion when she finished was just pure relief.
"I was just really, really happy and proud," Bell said. "There were a lot of nerves, obviously. It's the Olympics, and you just want to represent your country well, and yourself. And I was able to do that. It feels like I'm in a dream, and I hope I don't wake up."

This Alysa-focused article by Lynn Rutherford includes a few quotes by Viktor Pfeifer: https://www.teamusa.org/News/2022/F...s-Living-The-Olympic-Dream-On-And-Off-The-Ice

On Thursday at Capital Indoor Stadium, Alysa Liu brought something too rarely seen in figure skating mixed zones: pure joy.
She had just landed seven triple jumps, including two triple-triple combinations, in a lively Olympic program to a Tchaikovsky violin concerto. Her triple axel was short of rotation but landed on one foot. Her score, 139.45 points, put her seventh in the free skate and, combined with Tuesday’s short program, seventh overall with 208.95. [...]
Mariah Bell, the reigning U.S. champion, placed 10th with 202.30 points. U.S. silver medalist Karen Chen earned 179.93 for 16th place.

Following the competition, Liu brightened the masked faces of every weary reporter within earshot.
“Everything has been really crazy,” the two-time U.S. champ said. “Oh my god, me and my friends, we all made it here, so I got to go around the (athlete’s) village with them — before the competition even started — so it was already fun. And then we’ve all had really good programs, and we get to hang out after. I can’t believe how fun it is here.”

“But Alysa adjusted pretty well — she was focused on training, she was step-by-step getting more comfortable,” Pfeifer said of the weeks leading up to Beijing. “One part that is important is just her spirit, passion and motivation, and honestly, that was a big focus, too. Because when she is in the mind frame where the passion is there, and she is ready to work and enjoy it, then she is capable of so much. The technical part is not that complicated, because she is just a really good athlete.”

 

[Spikefan]

I’m so happy this was a great experience for Alysa. Hopefully parents start to realize it’s not about the medals but the experience (I do realize with how expensive it is and no college scholarships this can be hard).

 

[mtnskater]

Alysa, when her head is into it with spirit, passion and motivation, as her coach said, she really is so capable. She IS a really good athlete and a gamer!! To finish 7th, first year senior never having been to Worlds, following major body changes during the pandemic with severe training interruptions and unanticipated coaching changes, Alysa again shows what a talent she is. I sure hope she will continue to love the sport and compete through the next Olympic cycle because she still has so much development that could come if she works on it all. She is only 16 and surely wouldn’t leave now. Her talent and charisma if really developed could be amazing. I’m glad something shook her out of the negative headspace she was in at Nationals!!!

Mariah was my favorite performance of the night. Mature beautiful skating, carrying the performance throughout and completely expressing the music. Top 10 with no combo. Judges liked her overall skating too.

Sad for Karen to have another subpar Olympics. I think Olympics are just not her thing. But despite that I love her performances…the mature artistry stands out even with the mistakes. Best dressed in the free in that gorgeous lavender butterfly lovers dress.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

I’m so happy this was a great experience for Alysa. Hopefully parents start to realize it’s not about the medals but the experience (I do realize with how expensive it is and no college scholarships this can be hard).

There are lots of merit scholarships in this world. Just because there are no sports scholarships doesn't mean a smart, talented Olympian won't get a big financial aid package to most schools that offer merit scholarships.

I am so glad that Alyssa is loving this experience. She is coming in the exact opposite of what most people predicted for her and showing nothing but joy.

 

[AxelAnnie]

A nice article about Karen Chen’s mom—who apparently makes all of Karen’s costumes, and also Wolfkostin/Chen’s too.

‘I Just Feel the Best When I Wear Them’ (Published 2022)

The American figure skater Karen Chen performs in glittering dresses designed and sewn by her mother.

www.nytimes.com

The article says that Karen “plans to retire soon from international competition and return to her pre-med studies at Cornell University.”

Such an underachiever

 

[clairecloutier]

Powerful essay from Gracie Gold on the realities of ladies' figure skating today:

https://www.thecut.com/2022/02/america-olympic-medals-womens-singles-skating.html?fbclid=IwAR06PUxTCoG5g742bjzFItYzO8T0LpqbjQs4ZzcMuazl-LDv7SiP877ZvgU

I am in AWE of this piece. Go Gracie.

Over the last few days, you’re probably heard a lot of people ask why the United States, a country that placed at least one woman on the podium at every Olympics between 1968 and 2006 — and two on three different occasions in a decade-long span starting in 1992 — isn’t winning medals in women’s-singles skating anymore. You know, a nation turns its lonely eyes to Kristi Yamaguchi and that kind of nostalgic hand-wringing.

But if that’s all we’re asking, we’re posing the wrong question, especially in light of the breaking news last week of the failed drug test by the sport’s latest supernova, the 15-year-old Russian Kamila Valieva. In the team event, Valieva threw her light-as-a-feather prepubescent frame into the air and became the first woman to successfully land a quadruple jump in Olympic competition to lead Russia to the gold medal (or maybe not; in view of her result from a December test, the medals have yet to be awarded). She completed four revolutions in the air in the time it takes me to type Brava! Valieva skated in the singles event this week — despite failing a drug test in December — after she was cleared on Monday to compete by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a ruling that casts a dark shadow over the competition. While she didn’t win a medal, still, what are the other skaters, the ones who placed below her, supposed to learn from the result? That their sport is not clean?

In reality, they probably will end up feeling the same way I did as an 18-year-old in Sochi when I finished fourth in the singles. Or as I was made to feel by all the people inside and outside the sport who expected me to literally live up to my last name: the third loser.

Now, at 26, I’m positively ancient in skating years, but with age has come hard-earned wisdom and experience that compels me to clear my throat and say this: The questions we really should be asking this week are, Should we even want to be competitive with the Russians if it means following their troubling blueprint for success? How did we get to this point?

It’s not really women’s figure skating anymore. It’s girls’ figure skating. I know it’s not the first time people have said this; I grew up in the wake of Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan winning titles at 15. But while the old 6.0 judging system forced Lipinski and Kwan to be more mature, the current IJS one doesn’t allow girls to ever grow up because their womanly curves make the triple combinations and quads difficult to complete. Now it’s the Russian wonder kids’ world. Everyone else is just gulping their oxygen to try to keep up with their ever more difficult programs.

 

[Vagabond]

There are lots of merit scholarships in this world. Just because there are no sports scholarships doesn't mean a smart, talented Olympian won't get a big financial aid package to most schools that offer merit scholarships.

There is often need-based student financial aid in the form of grants, loans, and work-study jobs.

Some private institutions have need-blind admissions and provide sufficient financial aid to ensure that students will be able to study there.

 

[wickedwitch]

Powerful essay from Gracie Gold on the realities of ladies' figure skating today:

https://www.thecut.com/2022/02/america-olympic-medals-womens-singles-skating.html?fbclid=IwAR06PUxTCoG5g742bjzFItYzO8T0LpqbjQs4ZzcMuazl-LDv7SiP877ZvgU

I am in AWE of this piece. Go Gracie.

All the women for the 2014 team — Polina, Ashley, and Gracie — have all done such a wonderful job talking about this. I’m really proud of all of them.

 

[mtnskater]

Powerful essay from Gracie Gold on the realities of ladies' figure skating today:

https://www.thecut.com/2022/02/america-olympic-medals-womens-singles-skating.html?fbclid=IwAR06PUxTCoG5g742bjzFItYzO8T0LpqbjQs4ZzcMuazl-LDv7SiP877ZvgU

I am in AWE of this piece. Go Gracie.

100% right on Gracie. I’ve felt the same way for quite some time. Most of my favorite performances of the night tonight did not include skaters in the final group or with quads. The silver lining of the positive doping test is pulling back the curtain for the world to see the training environment these young girls are subjected to. Now the question is what will the ISU do?

 

[Jammers]

So no surprise that the best US lady this season finishes the highest in the individual event while the weakest of the 3 US ladies is the one with the silver medal.

 

[Allskate]

Powerful essay from Gracie Gold on the realities of ladies' figure skating today:

https://www.thecut.com/2022/02/amer...42bjzFItYzO8T0LpqbjQs4ZzcMuazl-LDv7SiP877ZvgU

YES. Gracie is absolutely asking the right question when she says
"Should we even want to be competitive with the Russians if it means following their troubling blueprint for success? How did we get to this point?"

I was shouting something similar at my computer screen last week when Scott Hamilton was despairing that American "ladies" aren't keeping up with the Russians.

 

[Debbie S]

YES. Gracie is absolutely asking the right question when she says
"Should we even want to be competitive with the Russians if it means following their troubling blueprint for success? How did we get to this point?"

I was shouting something similar at my computer screen last week when Scott Hamilton was despairing that American "ladies" aren't keeping up with the Russians.

Exactly. We tried to copy the Russians (and Romanians) in gymnastics and look what happened to our athletes who went through that system. Maybe our women aren't landing quads but hopefully they are happier and healthier (and I hope Gracie's experience has made coaches and parents more aware of the importance of mental health). I'll take a bubbly and giggling Alysa and her downgraded 3A over any of Eteri's crew any day.

 

[feraina]

YES. Gracie is absolutely asking the right question when she says
"Should we even want to be competitive with the Russians if it means following their troubling blueprint for success? How did we get to this point?"

I was shouting something similar at my computer screen last week when Scott Hamilton was despairing that American "ladies" aren't keeping up with the Russians.

Also it occurs to me that besides daily weighing and shaming to keep down the Russian girls’ weight, it wouldn’t surprise me that they’re using some kind of appetite suppressant to keep them so thin. They’re unnaturally thin compared to girls of the same age from other countries. Just look at them on ice. They have sticks for limbs in comparison. No wonder they can squeeze in extra rotations. There are probably dieting drugs not on the banned list I’m guessing?

 

[VGThuy]

So no surprise that the best US lady this season finishes the highest in the individual event while the weakest of the 3 US ladies is the one with the silver medal.

Maybe a gold medal.

 

[Mayra]

So no surprise that the best US lady this season finishes the highest in the individual event while the weakest of the 3 US ladies is the one with the silver medal.

I'm glad Alysa is walking away from this experience having had the time of her life. You can't plate personal satisfaction or happiness with gold, silver or bronze.

I've never been a huge Alysa fan, but her performances this week brought me joy and it gives me even more joy to know she is happy with herself.

 

[BlueRidge]

Happy article about Alysa:
The joy of Alysa Liu was set against Kamila Valieva’s despair

“I’m really happy,” the 16-year-old Liu said, her voice a gush of silliness, wonder and delight. By then it was clear she was going to finish seventh in the competition, far higher than she had imagined, and the thought made her giggle.

“I’m just like … and so many of my friends are here, and they, like, trained so hard and went through a lot, and they, like, finally did really good at the Olympics,” she said before she began to sob.

When she stopped crying, she said they were sobs of joy.

“I’m really happy for everybody and myself, too,” she said. “[The Olympics] exceeded my expectations. I didn’t think I was going to do this good here, and I made a lot of friends along the way, and I got to see them here.”

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks @BlueRidge!

Alysa has been invited to skate in the gala exhibition!

Jimmy Roberts interviewed her on USA during a break during the Pairs SP and she mentioned that her next comp. is Worlds and that she plans to keep working on her 3A but not quads.

Don't think this San Francisco Chronicle article by Ann Killion (Feb. 5) was ever posted in this thread? Stanford, Cal (Berkeley) & Barnard in NYC are mentioned as Alysa's “top choices” for college:

How Richmond’s Alysa Liu navigated twisting journey to Beijing Olympics

Nothing much has gone as predicted for Alysa Liu. Except this: The 16-year-old Richmond...

www.sfchronicle.com

 

[Sylvia]

Powerful essay from Gracie Gold on the realities of ladies' figure skating today:

Thanks, Claire! I've also posted the link (it was written with former NYT journalist Karen Crouse) in this relevant discussion thread in GSD: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...male-skaters-quads.109362/page-5#post-6210899

 

[aml78]

Saw an interview with Alysa during this mornings coverage. Anyone else getting the sense she’s done? I feel like her goal was just to get here. Doesn’t feel like she has the desire to do much more. She was awkwardly answering questions about her future. I think she’s ready to be a kid. With no real prospect of being a “super star” like her Dad wanted, I feel like the Lius may bow out in this high.

 

[gkelly]

Powerful essay from Gracie Gold on the realities of ladies' figure skating today:

https://www.thecut.com/2022/02/america-olympic-medals-womens-singles-skating.html?fbclid=IwAR06PUxTCoG5g742bjzFItYzO8T0LpqbjQs4ZzcMuazl-LDv7SiP877ZvgU

I am in AWE of this piece. Go Gracie.

Instead, my sense of satisfaction rested on other factors: Did I perform well? Did I enjoy the experience? Did I show growth as an artist? Did I make people at home feel something when I skated? Did I emerge from the competition healthy? Is the experience something that will help me in future competitions — if I choose to continue on in the sport — and in my post-skating life?

The answer to all those questions was a resounding “YES.”

Glad to hear it was a rewarding experience for her!