Changes on US team for Worlds

[Mrs. P]

Jason had a responsibility and he did not carry it out.

The Shibs had a responsibility and they did not carry it out.

Adam, Karen, Kayne & O'Shea, Ross....

Everyone who withdrew from Worlds or did not accept an alternate spot, actually. But I don't see this reaction and cries of "unprofessional" about all of them.

Probably the big difference is that Jason nor Ross was complaining about the judging or the team selection. And while Jason didn't really have a leg to stand on since he skated poorly in the FS and getting first alternate for Worlds (and Olympics) was a big gift, he still went to 4CC, which was just a few weeks after US Nationals, and got Team USA another ISU Championship Medal. The same goes with Kayne/O'Shea (4CC champion) and it's possible Kayne might be deciding to take it easy after recovering from an injury.

Ross had more of a case than Ashley to complain and he really didn't beyond that he was disappointed with the selection.

And obviously Shibs/Adam/Karen were at the Olympics.

Not saying that I necessarily think all this cries of unprofessionalism is right, but I can see where people are coming from. I also can understand the view point that Ashley Wagner didn't owe USFS anything.

 

[slider11]

Gracie please come baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Really. With Evgenia out I guess it's possible that Mirai and Bradie can pick up a 6-7 placement and keep three spots for the US. Hopefully that is their motivation. I don't see Mariah scoring above 12th. Gracie, you would be a welcomed returning skater.

 

[slider11]

I would prefer to see Castelli and Tran replace Kayne and O'Shea. I know she had bad luck after Nationals with getting her costumes stolen but they have the potential to be really good. US judges abandoned them at Nationals and, fairly, they did not have good skates. But such potential!

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Someone mentioned Mariah is dating a training partner also going to Worlds. I must have been in a coma, but is she dating Nathan? I don't know why I didn't catch that one earlier.

Based on his Instagram posts, Nathan may be dating a guy but I'm not sure. Do guy friends call each other "bae"? (https://www.instagram.com/p/BVK6Gg-g55N/?taken-by=nathanwchen)

 

[Mrs. P]

Based on his Instagram posts, Nathan may be dating a guy but I'm not sure. Do guy friends call each other "bae"? (https://www.instagram.com/p/BVK6Gg-g55N/?taken-by=nathanwchen)

Jokingly, probably.

Nathan used to date Amber Glenn, but that was a long time ago.

 

[sheetz]

ETA: Someone mentioned Mariah is dating a training partner also going to Worlds. I must have been in a coma, but is she dating Nathan? I don't know why I didn't catch that one earlier.

She's dating Romain Ponsart from France. Neither of them went to the Olympics but he was always scheduled to go to Worlds.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgNL2zgAWK5/?hl=en&taken-by=mariahsk8rbell

 

[Barb]

Based on his Instagram posts, Nathan may be dating a guy but I'm not sure. Do guy friends call each other "bae"? (https://www.instagram.com/p/BVK6Gg-g55N/?taken-by=nathanwchen)

I don´t know what ¨bae¨means, but I remember some months ago Nathan was flirting with Mai on Instagram.

By the way, this situation of people who don´t want to go to Worlds seems similar to this past off season with people recycling programs, when Yuzuru said he was reusing programs, suddenly , everyone became very comfortable to follow his example, now seeing olympic medallist not using their spot, it seems contagious and more people feel enough brave to withdraw too. I mean, I don´t care for Ashley, I can´t stand her anyway and it is obvious she is retiring, but why Karen withdraw without explanation when she is basically a nobody and many people still think she did not deserve an olympic spot.

 

[Ice Dance]

If we're going to complain that every athlete who has ever dropped off the list for a Worlds after an Olympics is unprofessional, it's going to be a long list. Athletes make a lot of difficult decisions during an Olympic year. They make them after Nationals, and they make them after the Olympics. One would think that Ashley could have made this decision before entry lists were finalized, but it's entirely possible she did. I don't see any sign that USFSA changed its list of alternates when they had the opportunity. Adam dropped off early enough that it could have been done.

I would just add that technically none of them are professionals.

 

[cruzceleste]

I don´t know what ¨bae¨means, but I remember some months ago Nathan was flirting with Mai on Instagram.

By the way, this situation of people who don´t want to go to Worlds seems similar to this past off season with people recycling programs, when Yuzuru said he was reusing programs, suddenly , everyone became very comfortable to follow his example, now seeing olympic medallist not using their spot, it seems contagious and more people feel enough brave to withdraw too. I mean, I don´t care for Ashley, I can´t stand her anyway and it is obvious she is retiring, but why Karen withdraw without explanation when she is basically a nobody and many people still think she did not deserve an olympic spot.

Really? because he got so much criticism that even after he won gold people keep asking him about it.

If AW doesn´t feel like skating in worlds is her prerogative. People has passed on the opportunity in US (Ross, Brown) and outside US (Mura). So is not fair to come for her with arms..

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

I'm actually happy that, if a skater doesn't want to attend Worlds, another can take advantage of that opportunity. Stellato and Bartholomay get to have an experience that they might have thought impossible only a few weeks ago.

 

[LiamForeman]

I would just add that technically none of them are professionals.

Well, semantics. Then again, when Ashley was 'furious' and complaining about her marks at USN she stated that she is a professional skater. Maybe she's just 'professional' when it suits her?

 

[Ice Dance]

I'm not a fan of Ashley's comments after Nationals.

I am a fan of Karen.

I'm simply pointing out that even if Ashley gave USFSA the opportunity to remove her from the alternate list, they might not have done so. They didn't remove Jason or Ross. Interestingly, they still have Karen listed, but now as a sub. They did remove Adam completely, but they didn't name another men's alternate.

 

[Miss Ice]

No joke, but I go on this forum about once per day nowdays for 5 mins to check The Edge forum, because it always has some juicy soap opera-esque detail about someone withdrawing.

 

[ranjake]

She's dating Romain Ponsart from France. Neither of them went to the Olympics but he was always scheduled to go to Worlds.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgNL2zgAWK5/?hl=en&taken-by=mariahsk8rbell

Cute couple! <3 I love Mariah's skating when she's on, I think she could really be the whole package.

 

[Mathman]

US Fed did a terrible jod of handling the Ashley situation. This was obviously going to happen. If I remember correctly she wasn't named as the first alternate to the Olympics and they should have guessed that it wasn't a good idea to do that for the Worlds either. ...

Ashley ws the first alternate for the Olympics, too. The USFSA just went down the line of U.S. National placements. Top three went, 4th place was 1st alternate, 5th place was 2nd alternate. I think they figured that none of the skaters had done enough on the international circuit the past year to get bumped up or down.

 

[blue eyed birds]

Based on retweets both Tarah and Danny made, and Danny's very general "best of luck" on Twitter, my hunch is that this withdrawal was not something they wanted to do, nor do they have anything to gain by skipping Worlds (while I like S/B and am happy for them, the US does probably run a greater risk now of dropping to one pairs spot; it could hurt K/O with the GP selection process; etc.). Not sure why their situation is being grouped in with those of skaters who are very deliberately bypassing Worlds due to a surfeit of media opportunities/lack of training time/possible retirement (Adam, Shibs, Ashley) or a training change/plans to get started on next season (Jason).

 

[rlopen]

I actually think this might be a good sign because I feel like if Ashley was going to retire this season she would have skated at Worlds to have her swan song...but then again who knows. Also I AM BEYOND HAPPY FOR MARIAH YES I hope she skates her WSS program clean bc honestly when she performs it she PERFORMS it!

 

[quadrupleaxel15]

Ashley ws the first alternate for the Olympics, too. The USFSA just went down the line of U.S. National placements. Top three went, 4th place was 1st alternate, 5th place was 2nd alternate. I think they figured that none of the skaters had done enough on the international circuit the past year to season to get bumped up or down.

Okay, my bad. I don't even know what I am confusing this with.


Ashley made an announcement on twitter and confirmed that Mariah knew about this far in advance.

 

[louisa05]

Ashley just posted on Twitter that her decision to cut back on training was made based on "listening to (her) heart and body" and that she accordingly made Mariah aware then that she would not accept an alternate spot to Worlds if she was called on to do so.

That would imply that she has not fully recovered from her injury earlier in the season or that there is another or nagging injury. She is not young in terms of this sport.

It is possible that USFSA knew that as well. They aren't obligated to tell press and fans everything.

 

[Andrea82]

Wagner just posted this
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgZcGNqgYHy/?taken-by=ashwagner2010

It sounds as Wagner told Bell in January that she would not take up her spot if offered.