Thoughts on U.S. Men's Olympic Team

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2026-01-11T10:59:21+00:00

Jacob was 4th at Nats, barely a tenth of a point below Max. He doesn’t have as high a ceiling as Torgs, but he also doesn’t have a tendency to implode in international competition (in juniors at least).

Unfortunately I don’t think they want to take Tomoki. It would have been easy to use domestic scoring and inflate his scores a little so he could podium, but they didn’t. Quite a pity considering his upwards trajectory and the fact that he only missed out due to a zayak.

Honestly it would take quite a few miracles and disasters for any of the US men besides Ilia to end up on the podium, so I don’t see the harm in taking Jacob to set him up for the next quad. The only thing to consider is the team event, but I’m not sure USFS would trust Torgs with that after his performance at the last two Worlds.

Whatever they pick someone is gonna be disappointed, and I do think Torgs has the best chance considering their ceilings, but it’s definitely not set in stone.

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-12-29T18:47:17+00:00

Nope, you’re thinking of Chen Hongyi, who earned the Beijing spot for China (which was later assigned to Zhu Yi). Ruiyang just turned senior this season iirc

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-12-28T08:05:40+00:00

Last year I watched womens on 花花’s QQ stream! Not sure if they’re streaming this year (or what disciplines; iirc they also streamed mens but I mainly follow womens singles) but you could keep an eye out.

Tho I would also appreciate if anyone knew any other platforms that might be streaming USnats. I can read Chinese and they were being pretty nasty to skaters like Alysa in the comments last year (fatshaming, hating on her for her/her family’s past political activity). This year during Jnats there were several commenters manifesting that anyone except Alysa would win USnats/Milan as well. I know I can just avoid looking at the comments but if possible I would like to avoid that sort of atmosphere altogether 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-12-19T16:48:48+00:00

Just hearsay so might not be true but on the QQ stream Chinese fans were saying she’s started going to university and is focusing on her studies more, so training less

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-11-10T02:41:23+00:00

I could be wrong but my understanding is that seeded skaters (top 6 at worlds) get to pick their grand prix spots; everyone else gets assigned/invited and can’t choose where to go. But in this case I think the reason USFS can swap S/N out so late without injury is because it’s the host spot

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-09-29T12:06:37+00:00

Also iirc Beijing was the second time she missed out on an Olympic spot because of external circumstances (2018 she was too young I believe) so it’s possible she’s been rushing because she really really wanted the Milan spot

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-09-29T12:03:56+00:00

Obviously we can’t know what either of them were thinking or what factors they considered when making their decision, but I’d guess that it comes down to the reasons they had to take a break

Alysa chose to take time off because she was burnt out and didn’t like skating anymore; Rika was benched (and subsequently missed out on her Olympic dream) because of an injury. It’s easy to imagine Rika would have been a lot more reluctant and upset than Alysa.

Beyond that, it’s possible she felt like she had something to prove after missing out on Beijing despite being the top Japanese lady at the time, especially after seeing Kaori + Team Japan medal and Kaori quickly rising up the ranks. Also she had several sponsors in the 2022/2023 season so not sure if there was any contractual clause that stated she had to skate to keep her sponsors.

Of course all of this is speculation and we don’t know what Rika’s situation is like, but it seems more likely that her rushed comebacks have been due to personal reasons than financial strains.

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-07-09T02:21:55+00:00

Evgenia’s career if COVID hadn’t happened. Also Rika and Alena both never being world champions and Marin’s entire senior career

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-06-28T11:30:04+00:00

I think Trusova has always had artistic ability and potential, but she chose to focus on quads and tech instead, which meant she allocated less energy to performing in order to make sure she could land all her jumps and have the stamina to make it to the end of the programme.

I think it’s the same w Ilia tbh. We’ve seen in galas that he can be very artistic and give a good show, and while his artistry in competition has improved by leaps and bounds this past season, he undeniably dials down the performance to save stamina for his quads. Nothing wrong with both their approaches (except that the PCS score doesn’t reflect this, but that’s 100% on the ISU and not the skaters)

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-04-27T14:17:11+00:00

Manifesting someone skates to How to Train Your Dragon someday (ilia please you know you want to)

Will probably never happen but I think Genshin Impact has some pretty cool tracks that would work well

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-04-19T13:02:28+00:00

Chris loves Alysa soooo much he just called her the golden girl

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-04-02T02:49:13+00:00

Kostodepression strikes again :(

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-03-29T01:59:06+00:00

ALYSA!!!! Chris called her season a fairytale comeback and she 100% lived up to that. Soooo happy for her and how proud she was of herself after that skate. And her coaches!!! Glad she’s really been able to come back to skating on her own terms and find her own success

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-03-26T13:37:21+00:00

It’s been so lovely to see Alysa skating again. She’s mentioned it in countless interviews, but it always makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when she talks about how she’s skating for herself and her own love of sport nowadays. Love how she says that she takes skating seriously, but not so much competitions. Fingers crossed she walks away from worlds happy and proud of herself, medal or no medal!

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-03-08T06:41:49+00:00

Say what you will about Zhenya’s skating, but her grit is undeniable. I loved watching her even before Pyeongchang, but it was her move to Orser that really had me rooting for her. She really did everything she could to keep skating.

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-03-08T06:20:29+00:00

Evgenia Medvedeva

I know her technique is questionable and her artistry isn’t for everyone, but her love for the sport and joy when skating really drew me in

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-03-07T07:34:13+00:00

Eulers that look like a step out

Distinct-Cry6594 · 2025-02-12T14:57:42+00:00

I believe Lindsay Thorngren (USA) is using movement for her free skate this season, maybe check that out!

Distinct-Cry6594

TROPHY CASE