2018 Team Japan 4CC Olympics JWC World

[demarinis5]

New fan here so sorry if this is a stupid question.

If it were the case that Satoko, Kaori and Mai attend 4CC and either Kaori and Satoko do not perform well and Mai finally skates clean. Is it a possibility for the JSF to re-assign Mai to the Olympics or is this set in stone?

No. Once the Olympic team is announced it is as you say "set in stone". The only time changes would be made to the team is if one of the
assigned team members is injured or for whatever reason withdraws from the competition then the first alternate will take that spot.

 

[cohkaix]

Kaori is sent to 4cc to gain some ranking points and higher international recognition, even though 4cc is very close to the Olympics. It's going to be hard, especially as I expect her to be skating the SP or FS in the team event.
Wakaba doesn't get 4cc because she is currently injured and who knows, maybe she needs some time to rest?

For Kaori's case, yes, she may need to attend 4CC to gain more points for world ranking. I think Kaori will be fine even she'll be assigned with both SP/FS in team event. In the news report I caught it said so far for this season, Kaori has been having major competitions (counting both international and domestic) almost every 2 weeks. She's been really physically training and building up gradually towards nationals, which should be fine.

As for Wakaba, a thought just came across my mind: perhaps Wakaba opts for NOT attending 4CC? AFAIK, JSF usually hands out questionnaires to skaters prior to nationals to check on their options for attending major events such as 4CC. Perhaps Wakaba thought her chance of making Oly team is high, and she wanted to void 4CC due to the timing in relation to team event. (Of course this is just a speculation of one possibility)

 

[Ares]

Gutted for Wakaba - my favourite Japanese skater (no Pyeong Chang Olympics) for her, but I think it is fair decision to send Satoko & Kaori there. I am going to watch her in Milano though and root hard.

 

[YesWay]

It's really sad that JPN only has two Olympic spots. With the upcoming junior, at least one out of Wakaba, Marin, Mai and Rika won't be able to participate at the 2022 Olympics either ...

Wait, won't the ladies have a chance to earn three Olympic spots at 2021 Worlds?

Yes, but perhaps the point is that even if Japan earns 3 spots for 2022... and even if Wakaba, Marin, Mai, and Rika are Japan's top skaters by then... they still can't all go...! The Olympic dream will never become reality, for some/all of them...

Especially when there's a good chance that skaters who are currently juniors (eg. Kihira), may take one or more of the 2022 spots...

 

[Eclair]

Wait, won't the ladies have a chance to earn three Olympic spots at 2021 Worlds?

yes, I hope they'll earn three spots, but Wakaba, Mai, Marin and Rika are 4 people! so at least one of them won't be able to go.

 

[rosacotton]

yes, I hope they'll earn three spots, but Wakaba, Mai, Marin and Rika are 4 people! so at least one of them won't be able to go.

Gotcha, same situation all over again...

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Gotcha, same situation all over again...

But it's this same situation every couple of years. Japan has a deep pool of skaters and it's sad that half of them won't ever go to the Olympics. I'm sure there will be newcomers in the next quadrennial that we could add to compete with Rika, Mai, Wakaba, Marin.

Unless Japan develops only 3 elite skaters every 4 years, someone strong will always be left home.

 

[da96103]

Yes, but perhaps the point is that even if Japan earns 3 spots for 2022... and even if Wakaba, Marin, Mai, and Rika are Japan's top skaters by then... they still can't all go...! The Olympic dream will never become reality, for some/all of them...

Especially when there's a good chance that skaters who are currently juniors (eg. Kihira), may take one or more of the 2022 spots...

Kihara will be Zhenya.

As for the other girls, some would inevitably be Radio and Pogo.

 

[YesWay]

I have never appreciated the "body of work" clause. Good results early in a season are not necessarily indicative of good results later on... in fact, even three months is like an eternity.

You're right that it's "not necessrily indicative"... but on the other hand they have to have such clauses, otherwise Hanyu - who could not attend Natonals this time due to his injury - could not be chosen for the team.

And he definitley should be named to the team. There is no doubt that he and Uno are the skaters most likely to win medals for Japan at the Olympics, assuming recovered by then. No disrespect to Keiji and Takahito etc, but they are not in the same league yet...!

 

[icybear]

So why is Mai going to 4cc instead of Wakaba despite her finishing higher than her in every event this season?

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

So why is Mai going to 4cc instead of Wakaba despite her finishing higher than her in every event this season?

I'm thinking it's because a) Mai is defending champion, b) it was close between Wakaba and Mai, and c) they still want to share the opportunities instead of putting all their eggs in one or two skaters' basket. It seems pretty fair to me. Of course, if you like Wakaba and don't like Mai of course you would argue that Wakaba should have a high level competition prior to Worlds -- although even still 4CC is well ahead of Worlds.

 

[FSGMT]

The most surprising choice to me is Yuhana Yokoi for JW instead of Nana Araki: she had considerably worse results in the JGP (one 5th place vs a 2nd and a 4th place), placed behind her at JNationals (4th vs 3rd) and has beaten her here only thanks to a couple of unfortunate mistakes from an otherwise very consistent Nana... :scratch:

 

[Spirals for Miles]

The most surprising choice to me is Yuhana Yokoi for JW instead of Nana Araki: she had considerably worse results in the JGP (one 5th place vs a 2nd and a 4th place), placed behind her at JNationals (4th vs 3rd) and has beaten her here only thanks to a couple of unfortunate mistakes from an otherwise very consistent Nana... :scratch:

Yes, I don't understand that either.
I'm very disappointed that they made that decision and I think that Nana is really screwed over here...
Nana definitely deserved the JWC spot...

 

[cathlen]

So why is Mai going to 4cc instead of Wakaba despite her finishing higher than her in every event this season?

Might be becuase Mai is the Champion from last season... And Wakaba got Worlds spot, so more important competition. And JSF could send Satoko and Kaori, like with Olympics, so it isn't that bad for her.

I'm super happy for Kaori! :hap93: And that Mai got spot for 4CC. Suprised a little that both Shoma and Satoko do 4CC, I kind of expected them to skip it, like Yuzuru.

 

[randomfan]

I really enjoyed Nana during the JGP, so it’s sad to see that she was not chosen for the team. I’m thinking that she’ll probably stay in juniors next season.

 

[charlotte14]

I really enjoyed Nana during the JGP, so it’s sad to see that she was not chosen for the team. I’m thinking that she’ll probably stay in juniors next season.

Of course she will stay junior next season. I don't get why they don't send her to JWC but this is JSF...

 

[Heleng]

So sad for both Takahito and Rika H not to be going to Oly or Worlds (and wish Rika had been named to 4CC). I love them.

 

[YesWay]

I will say though that the JSF is screwing themselves over by not sending Wakaba to 4CCs or sticking with Kaori for Worlds--she's gonna end up in such a low starting group in Milan because she won't have any ranking points from those two prior competitions which could affect their chance of getting 3 spots.

Might not be so bad.

Wakaba is currently #11 in World Standings.

Some of the ladies currently ahead of her will not be at World's eg. Pogorilaya and Hongo, so she'll be "effectively" #9

She will probably be overtaken by Carolina and Alina (Zagitova) after Europeans.
And possibly Elizabet Tursynbaeva after 4CC?
That would "effectively" drop her to #12, which is still second-to-last group.

Also Mirai, Ashley and Karen have higher rankings, but one of them might not be named to the World's team - or one of them might simply not go, post-Olympics. Same for Kaetlyn and Gabrielle. It's not uncommon to skip World's after Olympics. So it's possible Wakaba might move up another one or more places.

So I think there's an excellent chance she will be second-to-last group at Worlds...?
And I think there will be some other "big names" in that same group...

 

[cohkaix]

Might not be so bad.

Wakaba is currently #11 in World Standings.

Some of the ladies currently ahead of her will not be at World's eg. Pogorilaya and Hongo, so she'll be "effectively" #9

She will probably be overtaken by Carolina and Alina (Zagitova) after Europeans.
And possibly Elizabet Tursynbaeva after 4CC?
That would "effectively" drop her to #12, which is still second-to-last group.

Also Mirai, Ashley and Karen have higher rankings, but one of them might not be named to the World's team - or one of them might simply not go, post-Olympics. Same for Kaetlyn and Gabrielle. It's not uncommon to skip World's after Olympics. So it's possible Wakaba might move up another one or more places.

So I think there's an excellent chance she will be second-to-last group at Worlds...?
And I think there will be some other "big names" in that same group...

Though Wakaba is not assigned to 4CC, she may still be assigned to another B competition in between now and WC, I'm guessing. She only had on CS competition during the 1st half of the season, and I don't think there will be domestic competitions suitable for her to participate. So a B-level competition in Feb (such as Bavarian Open or Challenge Cup) will help. But it will also depend on how she's been recovering from the injury.

And the same may go for Rika H. and Marin, both may still be assigned to another B competition given that they only had one CS competition earlier. But not sure about Yuna, she already had one CS competition and was at AO trophy at very beginning of the season. I think Yuna also has a couple of domestic competitions coming up for her to participate (Inter high school and National Japan).