The most notable US athletes of 2020: No 2 – Mariah Bell, the edge of glory
After years of inconsistency in the biggest moments, the veteran skater put it all together in a career season and delivered the skate of her life at US nationals
www.theguardian.com
My two cents on the matter:
- while Mariah had a great year and I'm very happy for her, she is not my cup of tea, artistically speaking; of course, this is not her fault or anything, it's just my own preference which can be shared or not by others - after all, the perception of all kind of arts is one of the most subjective things ever;
- there are many skaters, youngsters or not, who I think have managed to combine point-gobbling jumps with aestethical qualities, they would be too many to mention them all (just some examples: among the senior skaters we just came back from Kolyada and Hanyu, with two amazing FP; among the youngsters I adore Valieva SP and Maiia SP this year); while difficult jumps can sometimes detract from the beauty of the skating they can also add to it;
- I know US figure skating doesn't really have anyone else at the moment to push on top (with Alysa Liu uncertain status) but I think they are really stuck in the past and fighting the proverbial windmills while most other federations have progressed and adapted to the new system and I think that they should really rethink their approach if they want to mantain a minimum of competitiveness.
Your thoughts?