Competitive careers in the face of Worlds 2020 cancellation

Mista Ekko · Mar 12, 2020

The world is in turmoil,
And many people stand to lose a lot in the next few months or so, Many have already...

But since this is a Figure skating forum i wanna discuss about who are the active athletes
who stand to lose (or gain? :scratch2:

) the most from this rare interference of competitive order

Who was building momentum that they might not get back?
Who was lucky to get here and might not get to again?
Who had a shot at being a world champion\medalist that might not come back around?

ruga · Mar 12, 2020

-The 3A would have probably been at their peak now. Considering the increasing technical requirements and upcoming juniors, it means that one or two of them may be left without Worlds title. Especially sad for Sasha who began her season on a high note, but hasn't won any major title. Not to mention Rika and You being at their peaks. I anticipated this season as one of the greatest ones in Ladies' skating - but maybe we cannot handle that much awesomeness now.

- A possibility for Yuzuru to show his best - or maybe a skate that could have strengthened Nathan's position as number 1 man.

- Boikova/Kozlovskii had potential to beat even Sui/Han in this season which has been their best so far.

- Papadakis/Cizeron ended their season with a rare loss - a win at Montreal could bring them to a firm #1 again. Chock/Bates had a great momentum and good chances to win a medal.

Lamente Ariane · Mar 12, 2020

Wakaba Higuchi

She rallied after a less-than stellar season to earn herself a spot to Worlds this year. Next season, who knows?

GoneWithTheWind · Mar 12, 2020

Mista Ekko said:
Who was building momentum that they might not get back?
Who was lucky to get here and might not get to again?
Who had a shot at being a world champion\medalist that might not come back around?

My thoughts in answer to your questions:

Tarasova/Morozov - not the best season (by their standards, eg: not making GPF, getting beaten at Europeans by B/K), Worlds could've been their moment to shine, regain their momentum and win another medal. If they continue to struggle, Pavliuchenko/Khodykin and Mishina/Galliamov could seize the moment and overtake T/M, plus they may face a challenge from any pairs moving up. However, they still have the third highest SB, despite their struggles, so I really hope they can reset over the break and come back fighting to show us all their potential next season.
Guignard/Fabbri - currently top 5 in the World Standing and were due to skate in the final group at Worlds. I'm not suggesting they would've won a medal, but the possibility to place in the Top 6 and be seeded for next season was there. When the WS is updated, last season's points will go down to 70% which may affect their WS. However, I still have high hopes because they currently have the 5th highest SB in RD which they could capitalize on next season, especially as their tech is usually strong from the start of the season, add full training time which they didn't get this season with Marco's injury, and hopefully they can gain some early season momentum and be in a good position come Worlds next season.
Spanish Ice Dance - Smart/Diaz weren't able to fight for the second spot. This Worlds would probably have been their best chance as FB/S would've been absent.
Gilles/Porier - this was their best chance to get a world medal as at they were skating at home. Depending on next season, especially if RD tech continues to be an issue, they may not get another chance.
Chock/Bates - loss of momentum and loss of the chance to win a World medal. If they struggle with tech at start of season again, and don't have such a knock-out FD (and if H/D start next season with better programs) they may not still be US no.1 and thus in a weaker position. Equally, for Hubbell and Donohue, no Worlds might be a gain, as they could've slipped down the standings (they were only 6th on SB list).
Lauriault/LeGac - had a rough season but still got to Worlds, if Galyavieva/Thauron are still able to challenge them again they may not get such an easy ride next season.
Della Monica/Guarise - Europeans aside, not the best season for them either and they probably weren't able to gain many useful WS points. Obviously, Nicole's injury affected their training so skating well at Worlds would've been a nice end to difficult season.

I'm aware there are many mentions of 'next season' in my post above, as I'm really hoping that, by then, the situation will have calmed down enough for the normal skating season to resume. In the meantime, I send my very best wishes to all the skaters (as well as to everyone and anyone who is/has been/will be affected by the virus) and hope they remain happy and healthy during the off-season.

Flying Feijoa · Mar 12, 2020

Looking on the positives:

-Yuzuru Hanyu will hopefully have time to prepare two suitable new programmes, instead of recycling his Olympic ones (which I understand was a decision on short notice since the 2018-19 ones weren't making him comfortable)
-Mikhail Kolyada might have less headwind to battle against when he re-enters competition next season (although I'm sad that Artur Danielian didn't get to debut at Worlds...)
-If any French skaters have had issues with training environment/funding due to their federation's controversy/meltdown, they will have a little more time to sort it out before next season (thinking particularly of Kevin Aymoz)

Many skaters that I like are still juniors or didn't make their World teams, so the impact of its cancellation won't be so great on them, apart from the effect on spots/quotas for next season's GP/major championships (details of which we still don't know yet).

drivingmissdaisy · Mar 12, 2020

I think this was Anna's best shot at a world title. It's questionable if she can keep the two hardest quads another year.

lariko · Mar 12, 2020

Well, aside from the 3A, I saw the Russians joking that Zagitova through the mighty personal power had defended her title while taking a break from competitive skating...

With so much competition, Danielian might have won Russian roulette 2x by both qualifying and then losing the WC.

I am also sad that Uno and Zhou are not going to have a chance at the WC after their short seasons.

litenkyckling · Mar 12, 2020

I think this may have been Soucisse/Firus' last chance at Worlds if I'm honest - I think they're 25 and 26 respectively, and with 3 teams ahead of them nationally and a very talented junior field behind them I'm not sure they will manage to qualify again.

The same can possibly be said for Hawayek/Baker - if they have a season like this season again next year I'm not convinced they will make the team as they have 3, possibly 4 other teams nipping at their heels.

Colonel Green · Mar 12, 2020

Hubbell/Donohue benefit from the season being cut short -- no World medal for their domestic rivals, Chock/Bates, and both teams have to start over next season with new material. C/B still have the momentum from this season, but it's not as dramatic as it would have been if they'd finished things off on the podium in Montreal.

The Canadian ladies program in general benefits from Worlds being cancelled; the two specific ladies who were chosen to go to Worlds, however, could easily never earn those tickets again.

TontoK · Mar 12, 2020

Flying Feijoa said:
Looking on the positives:

-Yuzuru Hanyu will hopefully have time to prepare two suitable new programmes, instead of recycling his Olympic ones (which I understand was a decision on short notice since the 2018-19 ones weren't making him comfortable)
-Mikhail Kolyada might have less headwind to battle against when he re-enters competition next season (although I'm sad that Artur Danielian didn't get to debut at Worlds...)
-If any French skaters have had issues with training environment/funding due to their federation's controversy/meltdown, they will have a little more time to sort it out before next season (thinking particularly of Kevin Aymoz)

Many skaters that I like are still juniors or didn't make their World teams, so the impact of its cancellation won't be so great on them, apart from the effect on spots/quotas for next season's GP/major championships (details of which we still don't know yet).

I don't know. I had the sense that this World's would be really important for Yuzu in determining whether to continue to strive towards another Olympics.

flanker · Mar 12, 2020

lariko said:
Well, aside from the 3A, I saw the Russians joking that Zagitova through the mighty personal power had defended her title while taking a break from competitive skating...

Alina is Chuck Norris of figure skating it seems :laugh:

champagnerain · Mar 12, 2020

I got one of my coworkers interested in figure skating this season, and the first thing he said when I told him WC was cancelled was, "Oh no! Kevin Aymoz has no chance to redeem himself from his performance at Europeans!"

I was, of course, hoping he'd be able to finish high enough to earn France 2 spots at Worlds for next year (after they lost their second Europeans spot).

lariko · Mar 12, 2020

flanker said:
Aliína is Chuck Norris of figure skating it seems

Olina-Wan Kenobi. She is a survivor!

Dreamer57 · Mar 12, 2020

Chock/Bates had great momentum to win a worlds medal. Would love to see them bring back their FD for the next worlds whenever that might be.

Smart/Diaz, always competing at Nationals for one spot at worlds
Zagorski/Guerreiro, chased by the depth of ice dancers in Russia
Soucisse/Firus, who just got subbed in for these worlds
Keiji Tanaka, with several Japanese men behind him scoring higher SBs than him
Artur Danielian, for a similar reason with a number of juniors moving up at the same time
Wakaba Higuchi, who missed worlds last year. I hope she will get to go to the next one!

Seven Sisters · Mar 12, 2020

Colonel Green said:
Hubbell/Donohue benefit from the season being cut short -- no World medal for their domestic rivals, Chock/Bates, and both teams have to start over next season with new material.

I agree with the Colonel on this one. On the other hand, someone who did not benefit from Worlds being cancelled: Gilles & Poirier. They would have gone to a Worlds in their home country as Canada #1; next year, they’ll have Fournier-Beaudry & Sorensen to deal with before they even get to Worlds.

labgoat · Mar 12, 2020

One good thing about the cancellation is that many skaters will have time to rest and heal some nagging injuries.

pesto · Mar 12, 2020

I don't think there was any option but to cancel, but it has depressed me more than I expected.

I feel for the 3 As especially. With the turnover so high in Russian ladies, they have very few years in which to shine. This year was theirs, with a medal sweep for the three a strong probability.

Then for Piper and Paul, losing a chance for a good showing at a home Worlds in their best season. Likewise, Moore-Towers and Marinaro. I don't think either couple would have won a medal, but they could have been challenging for last group placings.

And basically, I feel it's gut-wrenching for all the skaters to lose the big finale to the season, that they have worked so hard to qualify for. So many stories of triumph and redemption were half-written, and the final chapter of the yearbook has been ripped out.

moonvine · Mar 12, 2020

litenkyckling said:
I think this may have been Soucisse/Firus' last chance at Worlds if I'm honest - I think they're 25 and 26 respectively, and with 3 teams ahead of them nationally and a very talented junior field behind them I'm not sure they will manage to qualify again.

The same can possibly be said for Hawayek/Baker - if they have a season like this season again next year I'm not convinced they will make the team as they have 3, possibly 4 other teams nipping at their heels.

I’m so sick of people writing my babies off. If they have another season like they did this year, I hope they consider a *coaching change.*. They do not lack talent.

Amei · Mar 12, 2020

All of the big-time skaters are losing something, they've lost prize money for Worlds and I'm sure there is likely to be skating shows cancelled which means less income for skaters.

Mista Ekko said:
Who was lucky to get here and might not get to again?
Who had a shot at being a world champion\medalist that might not come back around?

Just going to do Ladies as that's the only discipline I follow rather closely.
Not that these 3 were "lucky" to get to Worlds as they won every competition they could enter and swept every competition they were all at, but given the depth of Russian Ladies it wouldn't surprise me if 1 of the Kostornaia/Shcherbakova/Trusova trio never steps onto World Championship ice. Next year I don't think there are any incoming juniors that are all that 'threatening' to the trio's dominance, but there are 2 other questions going to remain: what are Medvedeva/Zagitova going to get in terms of a triple axel/quad and there's the question of whether 1 of those 2 gets the nod onto Europeans/Worlds team through the coaches council based on their medal history, and what does puberty do to the trio's difficult jumps. Additionally, I feel most people had them sweeping the podium with little difficulty; we know that Young You and Rika Kihara are both training quads and both have a triple axel they can land in competition (consistently is another question); now they are going to have a full offseason with it more prioritized (most likely) to get a competition quad...Next Worlds Shcherbakova/Trusova might not be the only quad game in town.

Colonel Green · Mar 12, 2020

Seven Sisters said:
I agree with the Colonel on this one. On the other hand, someone who did not benefit from Worlds being cancelled: Gilles & Poirier. They would have gone to a Worlds in their home country as Canada #1; next year, they’ll have Fournier-Beaudry & Sorensen to deal with before they even get to Worlds.

Honestly, just based on this season I think Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen will be more focused on staying about of Lajoie/Lagha than on challenging for #1.

Competitive careers in the face of Worlds 2020 cancellation

Mista Ekko

ruga

Lamente Ariane

Skating Skills -5, Fashion +3, Camp +4

GoneWithTheWind

Flying Feijoa

drivingmissdaisy

lariko

litenkyckling

Colonel Green

TontoK

Hot Tonto

flanker

champagnerain

lariko

Dreamer57

Seven Sisters

labgoat

Done updating WJC rewatches!

pesto

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie

Amei

Colonel Green

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