I actually think the “story” in men’s skating for the US is Vincent Zhou – who was largely overlooked but definitely rose to the occasion. I think we’ll be seeing more of him in 2022.
And I agree, I’m not tied to watching US athletes – I’m happy to see the medals go to the athletes who have clearly earned them, and I love seeing up and coming athletes from many countries. In the finals I was very happy to see Hanyu win a medal he clearly deserved, but my next favorite was Javier Fernandez and I was a little disappointed to see him edged out for the Silver. (But only a little… it’s fun and all of the top ranked skaters were a joy to watch on the ice).
Poor Kristofferson–second again in men’s GS! I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be to always be second to Marcel Hirscher, one of the greatest of all time. This year alone, it’s happened 7 out of 9 times. That’s rough.
This is interesting - a Canadian man who didn’t make the team because of the complex way they determine who is on the team, which includes international ranking. Two Russian skaters were eventually kicked out of that ranking, but the IOC took so long to do it that this man missed his chance to compete in the Olympics.
P.S. Whatever happened to the Nationals determining who went to the Olympics? He finished second, and they send 3 skaters, so it seems an easy choice. Making it more complicated opens it up to politics, favoritism, and the IOC being sluggards.
Skating selection ignores/skips skaters who did well at nationals all the time. I think lots of countries do that. Look at Adam Rippon – he finished 4th at nationals, but but they bumped Ross Miner (who had the skate of his life at nationals and finished 2nd to Nathan Chen) off the team so Rippon could be on it. Figure skating is still a snake pit like that.
Of all sports that I would have thought would be clean, curling now has a doping scandal. Mixed doubles bronze medalist Alexander Krushelnitsky tested positive for meldonium.
Re twoinanddone, #325; yes, but there was very good reason to include Nancy Kerrigan on the Olympic team. She had been struck in the knee, in an assault that was targeted to remove her from skating, and was still recovering from the injury. That was an exceptional circumstance that I think most people would regard as entirely fair.
By the time Nancy was deemed able to skate, wasn’t it quite apparent that among the suspects in her attack were her “bodyguard” and her ex-husband, in whose company Tonya was often seen? It seems that if anyone was to be bumped to make room for Nancy, it should have been Tonya. But I’ve read that even though those with the power to do so believed she was involved, they knew how much attention a Nancy/Tonya “showdown” would bring to skating, so they bumped Michelle Kwan instead.
Tonya’s own words:
I think that admission alone should have been enough to disqualify her.
Nancy Kerrigan is one example, but this happens regularly. In Sochi, Ashley Wagner was there for the US even though she finished fourth at nationals. Nagasu was bumped that year. I bet you can find an example in at least one of the 4 figure skating disciplines pretty much every Olympics for the past 20+ years.
^^^Yep, and this year Ashley Wagner was “furious” about her scores at Nationals and felt she should again be placed on the team, at whose expense I’m not sure.
Wagner could use some graciousness and tact. She is not a favorite with me. Choice of who goes isn’t just placement at Natls - they have the whole international grand prix circuit to weigh into their decisions.
I am only supporting the choice of Nancy Kerrigan in the year that she was attacked, and not supporting ignoring the placements at Nationals otherwise. Although I have to add: I could conceive of circumstances where a skater had an injury in training that would be healed by the Olympics, and the rest of the record suggested that skater should be picked. I would probably support the choice then, too, not solely relying on a single competition. Actually, don’t the skaters compete often enough that a season’s record could be part of the basis for judgment, with some extra weight given to the placement at Nationals?
Too bad that Michelle Kwan was bumped off the team. There is an excellent biography of her–can’t remember the author off-hand. It compares Kwan to Janet Lynn, another skater who did not win Olympic gold but is remembered as fantastic by most connected with the sport.
I don’t think the person who was bumped (or her mother) thought it was ‘entirely fair.’ In some sports, it is the one or two or three who are the winners of the national tournament. In other sports, the governing body decides.
I was just pointing out that that it isn’t always the Nationals winners who go to the Olympics. Sometimes the winners aren’t even eligible for the Olympics because of age, citizenship, drug testing, etc. but they could still win the title in the country. Chloe Kim won the nationals 4 years ago, but she couldn’t go to the Olympics because she was 13.
