- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
I would guess Tomoki?
I would guess Tomoki?
Vincent has never been an early season skater.
I am quite sure he has had other men before that could have done so had they had a massive USFS propaganda push behind them. Remember Auxier and his claim that Zhou and Chen were the only two worthwhile skaters....only a few weeks after a totally different skater (apparently not worthwhile according to Auxier) had to save their butts because one of the "worthwhile" skaters couldn't do the job he was supposedly a lock to do?
Just pointing out that Alexei Bychenko finished 4th at the 2018 Worlds.
Just pointing out that Alexei Bychenko finished 4th at the 2018 Worlds.
This was a huge achievement for Bychenko and Israel... but it was still 14 points behind bronze.
Brown also came 4th at the 2017 Worlds... but it was about 29 points behind Ten (RIP) in 3rd.
And Elvis Sojko won a lot of World Championships and other World and Olympic medals.
I've always felt that Aaron would have done better if he'd gone the Elvis / Bychenko route and embraced a more staccato/vigorous style of skating rather than trying to "do lyrical".
On the other hand, he skated for a country with a more crowded field and may have felt that there wasn't space / support from the federation for a different style. Or maybe he just didn't want to do that.
I think regarding Jason Brown, we can all breathe a little easier after his performances at GS in December, Nationals and 4CCs. That is 3 comps in a row where he has done really well. My hope is that he skates equally well at Worlds and I would be happy if he did a 4T w/ just a UR. That would be worth something. But, I ponder him just doing a 2A as the 2nd element of his LP because it would still be bigger score-wise than a popped or DG quad. Also, maybe he can repeat the Lutz and do a 'Tano (I think he is repeating the Flip and Axel?). That might boost him by another point. It might matter in a close competition. I am fine with him not attempting a quad in the SP. He can still score 93-97 in the SP without a quad, which likely puts him in the final group at Worlds.
Despite criticism, I am encouraged by Vincent Zhou. His performances at Nationals were well-paced and his 4S looks much better than when he was training full time last season. People point out his subpar performances at the US Intl. Classic in September, but he did much better at the JO later in October. I think there is a likelihood of his score really increasing by Worlds. I wonder if he will try to integrate another quad? If so, which one? I think the Lutz was his 2nd quad after the Sal in terms of reliability. Maybe we can see it by Worlds ....
Elvis did very well because he technically outjumped the competition (super consistent) and his quad set him apart. I wager he would have done poorly under IJS because his spins weren’t particularly remarkable and his quality of skating wasn’t great. His speed and projection was good and he was absolutely electric to watch... but his programs didn’t have many transitions, intricate choreo, and he also “bro”ed it up which meant that he didn’t really have nice lines or extension because he wanted to stick to a more masculine staccato style. Bonaly was also exciting to watch and a powerhouse, but she wouldn’t have done well under IJS either.
Maybe, maybe not. Elvis had some incredible footwork; he's still skating and he still does!
Skaters under 6.0 did what was needed/valued under that system; if they had skated under IJS, they may well have skated somewhat differently to do what is valued under the new system.
I still believe Elvis would have "bro'd it up" under any system, and it actually worked for him. He may have done better if he'd modified his style, but I think he probably would have done worse. He basically defied the skating establishment by doing the best version of him rather than a poor version of someone else.
And Elvis Sojko won a lot of World Championships and other World and Olympic medals.
I've always felt that Aaron would have done better if he'd gone the Elvis / Bychenko route and embraced a more staccato/vigorous style of skating rather than trying to "do lyrical".
On the other hand, he skated for a country with a more crowded field and may have felt that there wasn't space / support from the federation for a different style. Or maybe he just didn't want to do that.
I wonders how Stoijko would have done under the new system. Even under the 6.0 system I am not so sure he deserved to be put down so much. ARtistically I did not like his programs you know he sold his p rogram. Candelero, Joubert won medals and I am not so sure I would say they were traditionally artistic. Both had charm and arguably sex appeal kind of like Javier. I know this is unpopular but I wonder if Elvis had been more physically attractive or charming to the public if he would have been knocked about his artistry. Candelero had charm but was a very messy skater. I will get attacked for saying this and Elvis is far from my fave skater but I don't think he was all that bad. And oddly enough his tech content at least jump wise is ahead of Jason over 20 years later.
Max had an unfortunate tendency to pop his jumps. He rarely rotated the triple toe on his quad combo, and the last two seasons, one of his weakest events was at Nationals. It's not like Adam or Jason was brilliant at U.S. Nationals in 2018. But the pressure got to Max in a more costly way.
None of them were competitive for the World podium. The next generation had to come up with the jumps. (And now, the scoring system has been rewritten, which benefits athletes like Jason, Rizzo, and Aymoz--though it remains to be seen whether any of them can play hardball with the multi-quad programs most likely to fight for the podium at Worlds when the entire field is training to be at their best).
Though it's way too earlier to think about it. ....
USA
Chen 9 Liu 7 S-KNIERIM/KNIERIM 6 CHOCK/Evan BATES 8
Zhou 8 Tennell 9 CALALANG/JOHNSON 7 CHOCK/Evan BATES 8