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

[sk9tingfan]

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

IMO, I think she shouldn't go to Worlds and also think that she should have given up her team spot to Mariah.

 

[VGThuy]

IMO, I think she shouldn't go to Worlds and also think that she should have given up her team spot to Mariah.

What a response to that article. Oh well, it happened.

 

[Rukia]

What a response to that article. Oh well, it happened.

Everything was actually pretty good except her loop. I'm not sure what's going on with that. Anyway, she's still an Olympic silver* medalist and that will never change (unless it gets upgraded).

 

[VGThuy]

She’s really Carolina Kostner without the second half revival.

 

[Kateri]

She’s really Carolina Kostner without the second half revival.

Or the lime green unitard.

 

[honey]

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.”

I think Karen’s mom is indeed very talented at making skating costumes!

That was tough from Karen today. The jump technique is just not something that can easily be fixed and it’s always going to be a problem. But she’s a beautiful skater and will always been an Olympic medalist (maybe champion??), she can be proud of her career if this is the end.

Nice moments for Mariah and Alysa as well. Both did about as well as they could. It made me happy to see Alysa so clearly happy here.

 

[Stephanie]

IMO, I think she shouldn't go to Worlds and also think that she should have given up her team spot to Mariah.

I don't think it was her place to say no thanks to USFS. That being said, based on the competition, Karen appears to have been the wrong choice by USFS/the powers that be. If we go by the ladies competition, Alysa was the one who should have done the team event but it seems USFS made the choice right after nationals (another bad idea) and Alysa's C**** situation probably killed her chances.

 

[Vagabond]

I'm still not convinced that Liu's mid-season coaching change has benefited her in any way, but I am convinced that she is a breath of fresh air and should keep competing if she wants.

 

[tony]

I don't think it was her place to say no thanks to USFS. That being said, based on the competition, Karen appears to have been the wrong choice by USFS/the powers that be. If we go by the ladies competition, Alysa was the one who should have done the team event but it seems USFS made the choice right after nationals (another bad idea) and Alysa's C**** situation probably killed her chances.

I think CV played a part but I also think that Meekins going on record and saying the goal was now to up Alysa's technical content to be competitive with the Russians, with minimal time to actually have that happen, also played a part.

I still think Alysa gets lucky with some jump calls and I don't necessarily blame the USFS for not picking her. Her scores were trending downward since the start of the season and technical panels were getting more prone to calling what they saw.

 

[Karen-W]

I think CV played a part but I also think that Meekins going on record and saying the goal was now to up Alysa's technical content to be competitive with the Russians, with minimal time to actually have that happen, also played a part.

I still think Alysa gets lucky with some jump calls and I don't necessarily blame the USFS for not picking her. Her scores were trending downward since the start of the season and technical panels were getting more prone to calling what they saw.

True, but this was her highest score all season since Lombardia, IIRC.

 

[tony]

True, but this was her highest score all season since Lombardia, IIRC.

And yet how would the USFS come to expect this with Nationals SP going how it did and that being the last impression after a downwards slope since Lombardia? I just don't see any super strong argument that, based on the info they had at the time, that Liu was an obvious or a clear best choice for the team event.

 

[Karen-W]

And yet how would the USFS come to expect this with Nationals SP going how it did and that being the last impression after a downwards slope since Lombardia? I just don't see any super strong argument that, based on the info they had at the time, that Liu was an obvious or a clear best choice for the team event.

I'm not disagreeing with bypassing her for the TE. I think Mariah would have been fine, certainly no worse than Karen. But, I am happy to see that Alysa's score went back up enough to justify her being in Group 2 priority status and being named to the Olympic team.

 

[NinjaTurtles]

Alysa’s scores would have meant, what, maybe 2 extra points in the TE? It’s sort of negligible and really was a toss-up for USFSA. If anything, Mariah as National Champ should have got the nod in hindsight.

 

[concorde]

Didn't Mariah also get the funk between Nationals and the Olympics. If that is right, then Karen was probably the only healthy one when selections were being made.

 

[Karen-W]

Alysa’s scores would have meant, what, maybe 2 extra points in the TE? It’s sort of negligible and really was a toss-up for USFSA. If anything, Mariah as National Champ should have got the nod in hindsight.

Yes, 2 - maybe 3 since the TE seemed to be scored more generously than the Women's SP. Her SP score was a tenth of a point lower than Schizas' TE SP. Given that she would have skated after Schizas, I suspect she would have beat her in the TE. As it was, using her SP score alone, it would have beaten Gubanova. In the FS, her score would have been good enough for 3rd and she wouldn't have come close to Kaori's TE FS score.

 

[sheetz]

To me Alysa was always the right choice for the TE and her testing positive had nothing to do with the decision as K/F were chosen for the pairs. The reason she scored poorly in the SP at Nats was because she went for the 3A, but when only attempting a 2A she never scored below 70 all season. As it is now the 3rd best woman on the team will be the only one to go home with a medal, and possibly an OGM at that.

I wonder if USFS was angry with Alysa for switching coaches when she did. Or maybe they needed to give Tammy a team medal since Tom and Raf were getting theirs.

 

[Karen-W]

So, uh... Karen sprained her ankle... Not sure when - she just posted pics of her ankle being iced and a comparison of both feet... Yikes!!!

Karen Chen on Instagram: "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

36K likes, 438 comments - karebearsk8 on February 17, 2022: "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...

www.instagram.com

 

[ptvvibezz]

So, uh... Karen sprained her ankle... Not sure when - she just posted pics of her ankle being iced and a comparison of both feet... Yikes!!!

Karen Chen on Instagram: "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

36K likes, 438 comments - karebearsk8 on February 17, 2022: "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...

www.instagram.com

I saw an article by the Daily Mail after she did her TE FS that said she injured it right before she got on the ice but I didn't see any other sources confirming it

 

[Frau Muller]

Congratulations to Alysa Liu for being the highest-placed US woman - 7th - at these Olympics! True champion material. Great blend of tech and artistry. Two divine classical programs, skated with joy! She’s going to World, yes?

 

[sk9tingfan]

Congratulations to Alysa Liu for being the highest-placed woman - 7th - at these Olympics! True champion material. Great blend of tech and artistry. Two divine classical programs, skated with joy! She’s going to World, yes?

And she's so normal!

 

[Frau Muller]

Alysa was invited to perform in the Gala Exhibition…the only US woman!

To be livestreamed on Peacock, beginning 11pm est this Saturday night.

 

[feraina]

So proud of Alysa. She is so resilient, to be able to skate these two programs after such a difficult season. I'm really bummed she didn't get to skate in the TE and take home a medal. I think she deserved it after the season she put out.

I hope she's going to skate just as well or even better at worlds. I remember the skaters typically being a bit tired and lackluster in the Worlds after Olympics in the past. She's definitely the best US woman skater at the moment, and she can only get better from here. I hope she gets enough financial and family support to continue, if that's what she wants to do.

I don't know why she and Raf never got together, and I know Raf has said he wants to reduce his coaching responsibilities, but I still really hope she can go train under Raf. She could even go to UC Irvine at the same time, perhaps. She's so young and is already quite complete; I think Raf can really bring her to the next level. And SoCal is really not that far from her family -- just the right distance to go to college, I'd even say. Too far to be expected to go home all the time, but not too far to just head home spontaneously when you feel like you really need it.

 

[giselle23]

And yet how would the USFS come to expect this with Nationals SP going how it did and that being the last impression after a downwards slope since Lombardia? I just don't see any super strong argument that, based on the info they had at the time, that Liu was an obvious or a clear best choice for the team event.

I think the fact that both Alysa and Mariah had COVID right after Nationals was the reason Karen was chosen. Alysa said she lost training time and I'm sure Mariah did, too. Alysa, by the way, has never scored below 200, so her "downward slope" isn't that downward.

 

[NAOTMAA]

When did the final choice for the TE have to be? To choose immediately after nationals was stupid regardless even if it had to be Karen in both in the end

 

[tony]

I think the fact that both Alysa and Mariah had COVID right after Nationals was the reason Karen was chosen. Alysa said she lost training time and I'm sure Mariah did, too. Alysa, by the way, has never scored below 200, so her "downward slope" isn't that downward.

It's downward when you compare Lombardia to the later events, where underrotations became a bigger issue (in other words, when they really started to be called). After all, people even on FSU were raving in September about how she was going to challenge the Russians by the time Beijing came around.

Bell did have the stronger final Grand Prix showing (which was higher than Liu's score here) and then the Nationals win, and Chen had her history of aiding in the US getting three spots for two consecutive Olympics. I don't think Liu was a clear choice by any means and people would've been mad regardless of who got chosen.

ETA- it's all hypothetical to assume Liu duplicates her skates. We saw what happened to Mark. We saw what happened to Nathan in 2018. We saw what happened to Daleman in 2018, etc. Regardless of who skated, the US would still be in the same position at the end of the event.

 

[giselle23]

To me Alysa was always the right choice for the TE and her testing positive had nothing to do with the decision as K/F were chosen for the pairs. The reason she scored poorly in the SP at Nats was because she went for the 3A, but when only attempting a 2A she never scored below 70 all season. As it is now the 3rd best woman on the team will be the only one to go home with a medal, and possibly an OGM at that.

I wonder if USFS was angry with Alysa for switching coaches when she did. Or maybe they needed to give Tammy a team medal since Tom and Raf were getting theirs.

I think her testing positive did have something to do with it. I don't have insight into the K/F situation but maybe they felt she would need more training time. Or maybe she thought so, too, and declined the spot. And getting a 71 in her SP with a fall on a triple axel is not skating "poorly."

 

[giselle23]

It's downward when you compare Lombardia to the later events, where underrotations became a bigger issue (in other words, when they really started to be called). After all, people even on FSU were raving in September about how she was going to challenge the Russians by the time Beijing came around.

Bell did have the stronger final Grand Prix showing (which was higher than Liu's score here) and then the Nationals win, and Chen had her history of aiding in the US getting three spots for two consecutive Olympics. I don't think Liu was a clear choice by any means and people would've been mad regardless of who got chosen.

She was still the best choice (and no doubt had the # 1 ranking) despite not scoring as high as she did at Lombardia. BTW, except for the 3A, she wasn't called for any UR in her LP at the Olympics and only had one Q in her SP.

 

[Coco]

They made the best choice available to them at the time, imo.

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. Mariah had a very similar SP score in the individual event to Karen's TE SP score. As for LP, she would have improved on Karen's placement by 1 place, but that's assuming judge would have put her ahead of Schizas, who would have skated earlier.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

So hoping to see an event maybe next year’s world or something with there is like Alysa, Amber and then Lindsay all three do the triple axels. And then Isabeau with a quad soon after.

 

[her grace]

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.