Could the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final Be More Prestigious Than Worlds?
Sunday November 30, 2008
Only the very best figure skaters in the world qualified for the event; actually some of the world's best ice skaters didn't qualify. Now, I'm wondering, could the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final be more prestigious than Worlds? Could this year's winners be the 2010 Olympic figure skating champions?
- About the 2008 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final - From Wikipedia
Comments
While I do love watching the GP events, I doubt that the GPF will be considered more prestigious than Worlds any time soon. For many skaters the GP series is just a way to gather points and polish their programs.
The success at the GP events does not always guarantee the success at Worlds or Olympics. The 2006 Olympic Champions, Plushenko and Arakawa, didn’t even make it to the GP final in the Olympic season. Neither did the 2006 World Champion, Kimmie Meissner.
This season one of the contenders in men, Nobunari Oda, didn’t make it to the final because of having only one GP assignment. Virtue/Moir, one of the favourites for Gold, withdrew from their events because of Tessa’s surgery. The American youngsters, Nagasu and Zhang, are stuggling with growth spurts and injuries, but could prove to be a threat come Olympics. All of them, and perhaps some other surprise contenders, could challenge for a medal, possibly gold, in Vancouver.
No, the Grand Prix Final is not more prestigious. Skaters good enough to be in the GPF often get left out because of the tiebreaking procedures, which don’t always produce the “true” top 6 skaters in each discipline. The fact that Keauna and Rockne are first alternates while Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov qualify because of a tiebreaker is just annoying to me. The Americans beat the Russians soundly in their only head-to-head matchup, and I think that should count for something, but it doesn’t. They go by total score, and that apparently says the Russians were 4 pts better than the Americans in their two GP events. (I disagree.) I understand the need for a tiebreaker, but I don’t think it always produces the worthy winner.
The GPF is great competition with most of the big names, and it’s an honor to qualify, but we don’t get to see all the best skaters until Worlds. If you see them around, tell Keauna and Rockne I (and probably a lot of skating fans) think they deserve to be in the GPF and that they should be very proud of themselves.