Stereotypical thhought patterns are bad! Be open-minded.
Personally I like Asley & Tim very much and they totally deserved their national title! And Ashley's hight makes this pair more special, provides them stylish and unique look. I like how their elements look like because of Ashley bein tall girl with long limbs... For me they totally destroyed some kind of stereotype that the pair must have only one look - tiny girl and big tall guy and nothing another... So - well done Ashley and Tim! And hope that they will make a podium on 4CC and Top-10 at Worlds!
I'm not taking anything away from Cain/LeDuc's win. They skated the best LP they ever have, and their main competitors struggled in the LP and had far more lift issues than C/L did. They have nice lines, particularly Ashley, and when they land and fully rotate their jumps, those are very nice as well.
It's not as much a stereotype as much as it's inherently more dangerous for them to skate pairs. And we shouldn't have to wait for something catastrophic to happen before acknowledging this. Perhaps it helps that Ashley learned pairs before she grew to her full height; it would probably be harder if she were just starting now. Basic physics says that it's easier and safer to throw/lift smaller and more compact things over one's head. Pick up a long tree branch and pick up a small twig and see which one you can throw farther.
I think they're managing better than any other pair of similar size would, but there are some negatives that come along with it. They're doing close to the bare minimum for lifts at this level, and they don't look effortless most of the time. Despite the very high GOE given out at US Nationals, their last two lifts kind of just looked like they were trying to survive through them. Their throws often look this way as well, with low chest landings or limited height, on the 3STh especially. Their twist has come a long way since they first started and could barely do one at all, but they do it practically vertically and the catch has often been iffy, whereas teams who are stronger on this element can get the girl's full body more lateral and higher above the guy's head. Their twists at Nationals were the two best they've ever done (the level 4 they got for it in the SP was inexplicable though). Again, I'm not taking anything away from their well-deserved win. They just aren't ideal sized for the current demands of pair skating.
If they skate well, they should have a good chance at top 10 at Worlds. It's hard to say for sure, because they only have one score this season in the 180s (181) and everything else has been below that, and I'm guessing it will take at least 180 for top 10. But China only has two entries, Canada really only has one relevant pair, same for Italy. And teams on the bubble like the Austrian pair are having some late season struggles. Aside from the top few names, it's an uncertain field this season. So the US will hopefully have two spots back for next year.
can you fill me in on what happened with them? i was so baffled at their FS, i had no clue what was going on. i've never seen them skate like that before.
Yeah Alexa & Chris's free skate was baffling and I wondered if they were hurt. I figured the SP might shake their confidence, but seeing them miss even one lift, never mind two, is unheard of. The final lift was barely even an attempt at a lift. It seemed like a total fluke. It was said afterward that he suffered a torn wrist ligament while they were training with Aljona and now he needs surgery. It makes me wonder what Aljona had them doing, because unless it was a freak accident, a pair skater who has no problem lifting really shouldn't be tearing his wrist. Maybe his injury also caused their twist in the SP to be so shockingly off. I would think a ligament problem would cause not just pain, but instability in the wrist, which would make any lifting an issue, but I'm not a wrist expert.
They haven't had an easy season with all their coaching/technical changes, but there were flashes of promise during the international season and they overall were still the best scoring US pair on the circuit. It's too bad they don't get a chance to at least compete at Four Continents, but if his wrist is that bad, maybe it's better to heal. This is the most unsure Alexa has ever looked jumping, which is puzzling because I usually consider her the rock of the team. The coaching change to Aljona had its benefits, but was also a risk, and the same could be said for making another coaching change mid-season. They need some time to get everything figured out. They didn't spend more than two months all year with the same coach, and it just seemed like too crazy of an arrangement. Maybe that had little to do with them skating so far below what they're capable of at this Nationals, but it couldn't have been easy.