Now that 4 events are over, we're starting to get an overall picture of who will make the final.
I'm not going to do an in depth dive, but I just wanted to start a thread to get everyone's thoughts.
I think with Dance and Pairs, we have a pretty good idea who will make it, barring disaster. For pairs, I think it's interesting that while Russia could have easily arranged it so that 6 Russian pairs are at the final, they decided to let three different pairs have an opportunity to get a bronze, and are picking the one with the highest scoring to go to the final pair event to get to the final. That means Russia will only
have 5 pairs, and depending on which team ends up on top, 3 different pairs could have a chance to end up at the final. Lockley/Prochnow, if they get at least 4th, will be a shoo-in for the final. They could even end up 5th, if they end up with a higher total score.
As for Dance, I think 5 of the dance teams look to be a shoo-in for the final, barring disaster.
Marjorie LAJOIE / Zachary LAGHA (CAN)
Arina USHAKOVA / Maxim NEKRASOV (RUS)
Elizaveta KHUDAIBERDIEVA / Nikita NAZAROV (RUS)
Sofia SHEVCHENKO / Igor EREMENKO (RUS)
Avonley NGUYEN / Vadym KOLESNIK (USA)
The only thing is, I have no idea if a dance team like the Greens, who have mysteriously disappeared from the JGP, might get assigned to the last two events, and cause some unexpected results. I don't follow Junior Dance very closely, so I don't know if there are any other significant teams left to compete. The Greens are probably injured, so if that's the case, I don't expect them to have HUGE scores right as they're coming back, but you never know.
For the Ladies, the main question is which non-Russian will make it to the final? Yelim Kim looks to be the most likely candidate, but the pressure might get to her. I also find it interesting that Russia's goal is not to have an all-Russian final, but to give as many girls as possible a chance to compete. In the end, only 4 or 5 Russian girls might end up with two assignments-- whichever 2nd placing girl has the highest scores.
For men, I have no idea who is going to make it the final. We now have 4 different gold medalists, which makes the field pretty volatile. Add to that we won't know what Artur Danielan's condition is until the final two events, but if he has recovered, he has the potential to score well too. I think the men's will be a question mark all the way until the final event, but we could very well end up with a number of gold medalists not making it to the final.
I'm not going to do an in depth dive, but I just wanted to start a thread to get everyone's thoughts.
I think with Dance and Pairs, we have a pretty good idea who will make it, barring disaster. For pairs, I think it's interesting that while Russia could have easily arranged it so that 6 Russian pairs are at the final, they decided to let three different pairs have an opportunity to get a bronze, and are picking the one with the highest scoring to go to the final pair event to get to the final. That means Russia will only
have 5 pairs, and depending on which team ends up on top, 3 different pairs could have a chance to end up at the final. Lockley/Prochnow, if they get at least 4th, will be a shoo-in for the final. They could even end up 5th, if they end up with a higher total score. As for Dance, I think 5 of the dance teams look to be a shoo-in for the final, barring disaster.
Marjorie LAJOIE / Zachary LAGHA (CAN)
Arina USHAKOVA / Maxim NEKRASOV (RUS)
Elizaveta KHUDAIBERDIEVA / Nikita NAZAROV (RUS)
Sofia SHEVCHENKO / Igor EREMENKO (RUS)
Avonley NGUYEN / Vadym KOLESNIK (USA)
The only thing is, I have no idea if a dance team like the Greens, who have mysteriously disappeared from the JGP, might get assigned to the last two events, and cause some unexpected results. I don't follow Junior Dance very closely, so I don't know if there are any other significant teams left to compete. The Greens are probably injured, so if that's the case, I don't expect them to have HUGE scores right as they're coming back, but you never know.
For the Ladies, the main question is which non-Russian will make it to the final? Yelim Kim looks to be the most likely candidate, but the pressure might get to her. I also find it interesting that Russia's goal is not to have an all-Russian final, but to give as many girls as possible a chance to compete. In the end, only 4 or 5 Russian girls might end up with two assignments-- whichever 2nd placing girl has the highest scores.
For men, I have no idea who is going to make it the final. We now have 4 different gold medalists, which makes the field pretty volatile. Add to that we won't know what Artur Danielan's condition is until the final two events, but if he has recovered, he has the potential to score well too. I think the men's will be a question mark all the way until the final event, but we could very well end up with a number of gold medalists not making it to the final.
and of course last year Camden being the surprise (to many) silver medalist.
