As I watched Skate America this past weekend, I began to think about which U.S. figure skaters may qualify for the 2010 Olympic Figure Skating Team. After seeing Rachael Flatt win Skate America's ladies freeskate, I think Rachael has a good chance of being an Olympian. Evan Lysacek showed that he is definately planning on competing in another Olympics. Also, of course, ice dancing's outcome is predictable: Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto and Meryl Davis & Charlie White will be there. Pair skating is the opposite: I'm not sure which of the U.S. pair skaters will be on top.
Share your thoughts. Which figure skaters do you think will qualify for the 2010 Olympic US Figure Skating Team?
Comments
Jeremy Abbott should definitely get a spot the this olympic team! There is no body with his talent!
I don’t think there have been any real surprises on the Grand Prix this year… The top skaters are the top skaters, and should make the Olympic team.
Lysacek and Weir are up there for the men. Abbott struggled big time in his first Grand Prix, but in the end, I think he will do enough to stay ahead of guys like Mroz, Bradley, and Rippon, who each have had their own big struggles on the Grand Prix this season.
For the ladies, Flatt and Wagner have scored the best for the Americans. This is nothing new. They’ve been on the podium at Nationals the past two seasons and are the only ladies who don’t have chronic underrotation problems on their jumps. Sure, there are realistically 5 ladies up for 2 Olympic spots, but Czisny and Nagasu have always had problems rotating more than a few triples per program and Zhang is full of built-in deductions. I wonder a little about Wagner’s jump layout, but as long as she attempts at least 6 triples, I think she’ll have fewer issues than someone like Zhang.
In pairs, McLaughlin & Brubaker are the top Americans, and have continued putting up good scores and solid results on the Grand Prix. Inoue & Baldwin and Denney & Barrett have the next highest American scores. These 3 teams are the same teams that were on the podium at last year’s Nationals and in all likelihood will be the podium this year, too.
In ice dance, the only real surprise may be that Davis & White have been outscoring Belbin & Agosto. Still, ice dance tends to be set in stone very easily, and I’m assuming Samuelson & Bates will continue to rank as the 3rd American team.
I don’t tend to make Olympic roster predictions this early in the season because nobody is in peak form yet, but the top skaters are already proving themselves on the Grand Prix.
Oops, I wanted to correct the error in my previous post… Wagner was 4th at Nationals last year, not on the podium. Still… I think she has fewer chronic issues than Zhang at this point and is my pick for the 2nd ladies Olympic spot.
I also realized in my previous post I didn’t quite predict a second pair for the Olympic team. Inoue & Baldwin shook things up a bit by outscoring Denney & Barrett at NHK even with both teams making errors. But I predict the newer team of Denney & Barrett for an Olympic spot since they have a bit more difficulty (unless I & B are landing that throw triple axel) and have a better chance of skating well. A lot of people think of Inoue & Baldwin as way past their primes, but when they skate well, they seem to be better received internationally than all the American teams aside from McLaughlin & Brubaker.
Okay, so I suppose my final predictions are:
Lysacek, Weir, Abbott
Flatt, Wagner
McLaughlin/Brubaker & Denney/Barrett
Belbin/Agosto & Davis/White & Samuelson/Bates