- Joined
- Aug 29, 2016
Someone before mentioned how bad it is that US skaters didn’t make to the GPF this year. In all honesty I think it’s less a reflection of how bad US ladies are in contrast to how other competitors are taking earlier competitions seriously now.
I’ve honestly didn’t take the GP seriously until recently. That’s because it always felt like a warm up to the season. Now with the addition of the CS series and the fact that both Japan and Russia are taking these early competitions very seriously, is bad contrast to the US that often have athletes peak later in the season.
I remember in 2012 at the NHK when Mao beat Mirai, and people were critical because Mao only had about three triples. Just her 3F, 3Lo, and her 2A+3T combo, when the rest of her jumps were popped (Technically Mirai came in 3rd over all.) Contrast that to worlds, when she attempted seven triples including her 3A. Her TES score was 12 points higher. However, she still managed to make it to the GPF with such low technical content because not many people were doing better at the time.
My theory has been that before recently, the first competitions including the GP were a warm up. A way to test out your new programs and work out the bugs while earning medals. When the competition was more serious; GPF, Nationals, Worlds, then competitors would add in more difficulty and also gain consistency needed for this more stressful later competitions. In the past, you could medal at a competition with a score in the 110’s and no triple triple That’s not the case anymore.
Now more skaters are fully prepared. There’s no testing green programs anymore with Russians or Japanese. Ladies are assigned CS competitions early and debut their programs during the summer with all their jumps ready to go. So instead of seeing weak CS competitions with scores mostly in the170’s to 180’s, we see Zhenia, Alina, Maria, and Wakaba all earning over 200 and other skaters like Marin, Mai, and Carolina earning close to 200. Contrast that to the US, where Bradie was the only one that scored close to 200 at the Lombardia Trophy and is now the highest scoring US lady this season. The reason she was so strong at LT was because she competing all summer long to prove to USFS that she deserved the SA spot.
It doesn’t bother me at all that we’re not in the GPF or that we’re not in medal contention for the Olympics. This is something I realized would happen last season. Learning to accept short term losses is the nature of sports. “Can’t win ‘em all.” As the saying goes.. However, the fact that so many ladies are fully prepared at the start of the season means that the US cannot take the CS for granted anymore. They have to ensure ladies are boot ready by September 1st. That means more summer competitions and potential senior B competitions before the start of the CS.
The benefits are clear. Ladies will be more consistent throughout the season. The PCS scores will grow more, ensuring high scores later in the season. They’ll be more competitive, earn higher ISU SB and increase their chances at GP slots for the next season. And it will mean a better national competition in January.
I certainly hope USFS gives up their tendency to pin all their hopes on one promising skater, instead ensuring that all skaters can be competitive as possible before they begin their international season.
I totally agree. USFSA really needs to make sure skaters are ready to go by September, as you said. Of course, on the other hand, Karen did a competiton in August where she skated perfectly clean in both programs.( I think 2 footed her 3lz-3t but other than that) and then had a disaster season. I think that had more to do with the program switching though....... I am not sure.