2014 Winter Olympics - FIgure Skating
Feb 5, 2014 18:39:40 GMT -5
Post by Q3 on Feb 5, 2014 18:39:40 GMT -5
This thread is for discussion of the 2014 Winter Olympics Figure Skating events.
Here are the event dates in US Eastern Standard Time for all events. NOT ALL EVENTS WILL BE BROADCAST.
Thurs., Feb. 6
10:30 AM for Team – Men’s short program
12:10 PM ET for Team – Pairs short program
Feb. 8
9:30 a.m. ET : Team- Ice Dancing Short
11:30 a.m. ET: Team – Ladies' Short Program
1:05 p.m. ET: Team- Pairs Free Skate
Feb. 9
10:00 a.m. ET : Team- Men's Free Skate
11:05 a.m. ET: Team- Ladies' Free Skate
12:10 p.m. ET: Team – Ice Dancing Free
Feb. 11
10:00 a.m. ET : Pairs- Short Program
Feb. 12
1:00 a.m. ET: Pairs – Free Skate
10:45 a.m. ET: Pairs- Free Skate
Feb. 13
1:00 a.m. ET: Men's Short Program
10:00 a.m. ET: Men's Short Program
Feb. 14
10:00 a.m. ET: Men's Free Skate
Feb. 16
10:00 a.m. ET : Ice Dancing – Short Dance
Feb. 17
10:00 a.m. ET: Ice Dancine – Free Dance
Feb. 19
10:00 a.m. ET: Ladies' - Short Program
Feb. 20
10:a.m. ET: Ladies' – Free Skate
TEAM FIGURE SKATING
Current standings -- best US can do is silver, but that will be a stretch. The Russian team is certain to win a Gold or Silver medal, Canada will win a medal.
As of the end of competition 2.8.14.
The team rankings before the competition started.
1. Canada
2. Russia
3. U.S.
4. Japan
5. Italy
6. France
7. China
8. Germany
9. Ukraine
10. Great Britain
Results as of 2.6.14
Team Standings at the end of day 1
1. Russian Federation, 19 points
2. Canada, 17 points
3. China, 15 points
4. Japan, 13 points
5-7. Germany, 10 points, France, 10 points, U.S., 10 points
8. Italy, 8 points
9. Ukraine, 5 points
10. Great Britain, 3 points
Results as of 2.8.14
Standings after Ice Dance - 11:00AM EST 2.8.14
1. Russia — 27
2. Canada — 26
3. United States — 20
4. France — 17
5. China — 16
6. Japan — 16
7. Germany — 15
8. Italy — 14
9. Great Britain — 7
10. Ukraine — 7
Ice Dance
Davis and White delivered for Team USA, with a performance that scored them a 75.98. It was enough to give the pair first-place in this leg of the competition and move the United States to third overall in the Team Figure Skating competition.
Here are the top five finishers from the Ice Dance – Short Dance portion of the team event:
Meryl Davis / Charlie White (USA) –75.98
TessaCirtue/Scott Moir (CAN) — 72.98
Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev (RUS) — 70.27
Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian Bourzat (FRA) — 69.15
Anna Cappellini / Luca Lanotte (ITA) — 64.92
With United States now in third, they are in good position to advance to the gold medal round on Sunday.
******
Men's short program
Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan, 97.98 (amazing performance!)
Yevgeny Plushenko, Russian Federation, 91.39
Patrick Chan, Canada, 89.71
Han Yan, China, 85.52
Florent Amodio, France, 79.93
Peter Liebers, Germany, 79.61
Jeremy Abbott, U.S., 65.65
Yakov Godorozha, Ukraine, 60.51
Matthew Parr, Great Britain, 57.40
Paul Bonifacio Parkinson, Italy, 53.94
Pairs short program
Russia, Tatyana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov, 83.79 (If you did not see this, go watch the video!!)
Canada, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford 73.10
China, Cheng Peng and Hao Zhang, 71.01
Italy, Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotark, 70.31
U.S., Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir, 64.25
Germany, Maylin and Daniel Wendy (married), 60.82
France, Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres, 57.45
Japan, Narumi Takahashi and Ryuichi Kihara, 46.56
Ukraine, Julia Lavrentieva and Yuri Rudyk, 46.34
Great Britain, Stacey Kemp and David King, 44.70
Schedule
Team event schedule (listed for U.S. Eastern time zone):
Thurs., Feb. 6
10:30 AM for Team – Men’s short program
12:10 PM ET for Team – Pairs short program
Sat., Feb. 8
9:30 AM ET for Team – Ice dancing short dance
11:10 AM ET for Team – Ladies’ short program
1:05 PM ET for Team – Pairs free skate
Sun., Feb. 9
10 AM ET for Team – Men’s free skate
11:05 AM ET for Team – Ladies’ free skate
12:10 PM ET for Team – Ice dancing free dance
Est.: 1:30 PM ET - Medals awarded
Figure skating team event: Understanding the new Winter Olympic competition
By Nicholas McCarvel, NBCOlympics.com
Jan 22, 6:15pm EST
The Sochi Games are home to the inaugural figure skating team event, which – much like gymnastics at the Summer Olympics – will give athletes a second chance to win an Olympic medal during the Games.
Here’s how it works:
Each nation entered will have one representative in men’s singles, women’s singles, pairs and ice dance skaters perform one short program and one free skate each. The event will include 10 nations and will be cut down to five after the all of the short programs are complete.
The teams are (No. 1 being the highest-ranked team):
1. Canada 6. France
2. Russia 7. China
3. U.S. 8. Germany
4. Japan 9. Ukraine
5. Italy 10. Great Britain
Teams will officially be announced on Feb. 5, the day before the team competition begins.
Team event schedule (listed for U.S. Eastern time zone):
Thurs., Feb. 6 at 10:30 AM for Team – Men’s short program
12:10 PM ET for Team – Pairs short program
Sat., Feb. 8 at 9:30 AM ET for Team – Ice dancing short dance
11:10 AM ET for Team – Ladies’ short program
1:05 PM ET for Team – Pairs free skate
Sun., Feb. 9 at 10 AM ET for Team – Men’s free skate
11:05 AM ET for Team – Ladies’ free skate
12:10 PM ET for Team – Ice dancing free dance
Est.: 1:30 PM ET - Medals awarded
Substitutions
Two skaters (or two couples or one skater and one couple) may be subbed out after the short program in any discipline. For example, the U.S. could enter Ashley Wagner in the women’s short and Gracie Gold in the women’s free skate. Team must be submitted to Olympic officials by Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Scoring
Each and every score for programs count towards a team's cumulative total - including the short program and free skate - with the highest total winning the gold medal. A skater's (or skaters') placement will earn them points: 10 for first, nine for second and so on. The team with the highest point total as the end of all eight segments will win gold.
RELATED: How to understand figure skating's scoring
Major players
Canada is the heavy favorite going in with reigning and three-time world champion Patrick Chan leading the way, buoyed by reining Olympic gold medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir in ice dancing. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are the country’s top pairs team, having won bronze at the 2013 World Championships.
Russia will also factor into the gold-medal conversation, led by four-time Olympian Yevgeny Plushenko. Their strongest skaters, however, are the reigning pairs world champions, Tatyana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov. Teenagers Yulia Lipnitskaya and Adelina Sotnikova have been rising stars on the ladies’ international circuit while ice dancers Yekaterina Bobrova and Dimitry Soloviyev were third at the World Championships this past year.
Team USA also is a part of team arms race, led by reigning and two-time world champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White in ice dancing. The U.S. could see both reigning champion Gracie Gold and two-time Ashley Wagner skate as well as two-time Olympian Jeremy Abbott. The U.S. - along with other teams - will officially name their teams on Feb. 5.
- See more at: www.nbcolympics.com/news/figure-skating-team-event-understanding-new-winter-olympic-competition#sthash.MrhFGrrV.dpuf
U.S. announces Castelli/ Shnapir and Jeremy Abbott for debut team event
By Nicholas McCarvel,
Feb 5, 1:15am EST
SOCHI, Russia – The U.S. announced just part of its team for the new Olympic figure skating event Wednesday, tapping two-time national champions Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir to skate the pairs short program while reigning national champion Jeremy Abbott will skate the men’s short program on Thursday night.
In a surprise move, the ladies singles and ice dance line-ups were not announced, however, nor were the free skate selections for the pairs and men's events. Those skaters will be announced in a rolling schedule over the weekend by the U.S. Figure Skating Association.
"I was hoping to find out the entire team today," said Johnny Weir, a former Olympian and current NBC Sports figure skating analyst. "I think it's a great opportunity for Simon and Marissa as well as Jeremy to start off the Olympics on the right foot."
The team event gets underway Thursday night in Sochi with the men’s short program, followed by pairs. The ladies and ice dance will skate Saturday, giving Team USA more time to decide who will represent it in an event it has a legitimate shot to win gold in. That announcement will come Friday morning at 10 AM local time.
Reigning world champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White are expected in the ice dance, but the ladies line-up could go any of several ways with new national champion Gracie Gold, two-time U.S. winner Ashley Wagner and rising star Polina Edmunds all serving as options for the event.
Teams are allowed two substitutions for the event. Jason Brown, he of "Riverdance" viral fame from Nationals, could be one of those subs for Abbott in the free skate, meaning the U.S. would have one more substitution at their disposal.
Many speculated before the announcement that Wagner would be named for the short program and Gold the free skate, each program playing to their strengths. But the U.S. Figure Skating Association needed another day to decide, meaning whatever the line-up could be will ultimately be a surprise.
"It's an intriguing decision by the USFSA not to announce the dance, ladies or the free skates for the men's and pairs," Weir added. "With the event getting so close, you can't just spring that pressure on the participants. However, I'm sure the athletes already know [what they're skating]."
Wagner skated Tuesday night in a practice session at the Olympic training rink, saying she felt good after a long day of travel from Munich. The 22-year-old has reverted back to her long program from the 2012-13 season after a dismal fourth-place finish at the U.S. Championships in January. Her short program, to Pink Floyd’s “Shine on me Crazy Diamond,” has been her strength throughout the year, though she fell on her triple-triple combination last month.
Gold, meanwhile, set a record with her overall score at Nationals and skated well in both her short and free skate programs. The 19-year-old Brown won the men's free skate with his crowd-pleasing Riverdance, landing eight triple jumps.
"Whoever they send out for short or free skate I believe the outcome will be positive," said 1998 Olympic champion and NBC Sports analyst Tara Lipinski. "Selecting Ashley for the short could be a nice way for her to shake off all the hype from Nationals and settle into the ice. She has a very powerful short program that could set the tone well for her individual event. Gracie is a solid choice for both programs. It would be beneficial for her to use this opportunity to acclimate to Olympic competition especially since she doesn’t like surprises and excels when she can focus in and feel at home."
Lipinski also added that Edmunds, making her debut in a senior international event, would be a strong free skate option.
Along with Japan, Russia and Canada the U.S. is seen as a threat for a medal in the team event, which is making its Olympic debut. Canada announced Wednesday that reigning and three-time world champion Patrick Chan will skate in the men's short program while Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, third at the World Championships in 2013, will skate in the pairs short.
- See more at: www.nbcolympics.com/news/us-announces-castelli-shnapir-and-jeremy-abbott-debut-team-event?ctx=team-usa#sthash.6qTK7YOf.dpuf
1 day until Competition. February 6, 2014
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Preview: U.S., Canada, Russia go after first-ever team figure skating medals
By Nicholas McCarvel, NBCOlympics.com
Feb 5, 6:30am EST
SOCHI, Russia – History is made at the Olympics Thursday night in Sochi when figure skating begins its first-ever team event, consisting of ten teams all chasing after three medals. The U.S. factors into the gold-medal conversation, anchored by reigning world champion ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White. Here, a comprehensive preview of the inaugural event.
How does it work?
In brief, the team event goes like this: skaters from all four disciplines (men’s, ladies, pairs and ice dance) skate both a short and long program with points being awaded for their placement in said events. Ten teams in total compete in the short program, with just the top five advancing to the free skate portion. Each team is allowed two substitutions between the short program and the free skate, meaning one man can skate in the men’s short, then another in the free skate. Substitutions can be made in ladies, pairs and/or ice dance, as well, as long as no more than two substitutions are made in total. For a comprehensive explanation of the team event and its proceeding, click here.
Who are the favorites?
Teams are ranked by an international system that tracks performances of skaters from throughout the skating season. Canada comes in as the top seed, followed by Russia, the U.S., Japan and Italy. The top four teams – Canada, Russia, the U.S. and Japan – are seen are the favorites for the three podium spots, with Italy having an outside shot at landing inside the top three.
Breaking it down
Canada has the upper hand because of strength in three out of the four disciplines: men’s, ice dance and pairs. The Canadians are led by reigning and three-time world champion Patrick Chan in men’s singles, followed closely by Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the ice dancers who won Olympic gold in Vancouver. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, Canada’s best pairs team, were third at the World Championships in 2013.
Russia isn’t far behind, particularly thanks to a surging season from 15-year-old Yulia Lipnitskaya, who became the youngest Euopean Championships winner ever in January. She joins Yevgeny Plushenko in singles, the 31-year-old veteran who was selected as the lone man to represent Russian after a controversial process. The reigning pairs world champions, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov, bolster that strong line-up, which also includes Yekaterina Bobrova and Dimitry Soloviyev, bronze medalists at the World Championships in 2013.
And what of the U.S.? No doubt its leader is the ice dancing duo of Davis/White, who have won two out of the last three World Championships golds and have not earned anything less than gold in almost two years. The Americans will need to outdo rivals and training partners Virtue/Moir to help the U.S. beat out Canada, however. Jeremy Abbott will skate the short program in the men’s event, while fellow U.S. champs Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir will do so in pairs. The great mystery lies in the ladies portion of the event, where it is believed that two-time U.S. champ Ashley Wagner will skate the short program and 2014 winner Gracie Gold will do the free skate. The wildcard: 15-year-old Polina Edmunds, who won silver in Boston and is also seen as a free-skate option.
What the experts say
“It's really going to between Russia, Canada and the U.S. for the medals,” said Johnny Weir, a two-time Olympian and analyst for NBC Sports. “It'll just be a matter of are the American dancers so much better than the rest of the field.”
“At the Olympics, it's such a different event from what you're training for in the span of four years,” says fellow analyst Tara Lipinski, who won Olympic gold in 1998. “Your process of peaking has to change because this is a whole different competition before the individual events.”
What Lipinski is referring to is that figure skaters are now dealing with twice the amount of skating that they normally would at the Olympics, something Weir said he would have “hated” and Lipinski “loved” having to skate two different events at one Games had the team event existed when they competed.
“If Chan skates well, he's far ahead of the Russian and U.S. men,” Weir adds. “For the ladies, Russia has a slight advantage there with the home ice and when you get to pairs it's all about the Russians. So it's a mixed bag. Everyone has their strengths, but it's going to be whoever goes out and blows us away.”
But who’s skating?
The U.S. – as mentioned above – has named its men’s and pairs participants for the short programs and will wait to announce ladies and dance until Friday. "Whoever they send out for short or free skate I believe the outcome will be positive," Lipinski said. "Selecting Ashley for the short could be a nice way for her to shake off all the hype from Nationals and settle into the ice. She has a very powerful short program that could set the tone well for her individual event. Gracie is a solid choice for both programs. It would be beneficial for her to use this opportunity to acclimate to Olympic competition especially since she doesn’t like surprises and excels when she can focus in and feel at home."
The ten countries skating are: Canada, Russia, the U.S., Japan, Italy, France, China, Germany, Ukraine and Great Britain.
Schedule
The team event kicks off Thursday night in Sochi at 7:30 pm local time (10:30 am ET) and will be streamed in its entirety on NBCOlympics.com. The men’s short program kicks off the competition, with Plushenko skating fourth, Abbott fifth and Chan ninth. Pairs is set to get underway thereafter, around 9:10 local time. Ladies and ice dance will skate their short programs – along with pairs free skate – Saturday night. For a full schedule of the team event, click here.
- See more at: www.nbcolympics.com/news/preview-us-canada-russia-go-after-first-ever-team-figure-skating-medals#sthash.c8nLGev5.dpuf
Here are the event dates in US Eastern Standard Time for all events. NOT ALL EVENTS WILL BE BROADCAST.
Thurs., Feb. 6
10:30 AM for Team – Men’s short program
12:10 PM ET for Team – Pairs short program
Feb. 8
9:30 a.m. ET : Team- Ice Dancing Short
11:30 a.m. ET: Team – Ladies' Short Program
1:05 p.m. ET: Team- Pairs Free Skate
Feb. 9
10:00 a.m. ET : Team- Men's Free Skate
11:05 a.m. ET: Team- Ladies' Free Skate
12:10 p.m. ET: Team – Ice Dancing Free
Feb. 11
10:00 a.m. ET : Pairs- Short Program
Feb. 12
1:00 a.m. ET: Pairs – Free Skate
10:45 a.m. ET: Pairs- Free Skate
Feb. 13
1:00 a.m. ET: Men's Short Program
10:00 a.m. ET: Men's Short Program
Feb. 14
10:00 a.m. ET: Men's Free Skate
Feb. 16
10:00 a.m. ET : Ice Dancing – Short Dance
Feb. 17
10:00 a.m. ET: Ice Dancine – Free Dance
Feb. 19
10:00 a.m. ET: Ladies' - Short Program
Feb. 20
10:a.m. ET: Ladies' – Free Skate
*****
TEAM FIGURE SKATING
Current standings -- best US can do is silver, but that will be a stretch. The Russian team is certain to win a Gold or Silver medal, Canada will win a medal.
As of the end of competition 2.8.14.
The team rankings before the competition started.
1. Canada
2. Russia
3. U.S.
4. Japan
5. Italy
6. France
7. China
8. Germany
9. Ukraine
10. Great Britain
Results as of 2.6.14
Team Standings at the end of day 1
1. Russian Federation, 19 points
2. Canada, 17 points
3. China, 15 points
4. Japan, 13 points
5-7. Germany, 10 points, France, 10 points, U.S., 10 points
8. Italy, 8 points
9. Ukraine, 5 points
10. Great Britain, 3 points
Results as of 2.8.14
Standings after Ice Dance - 11:00AM EST 2.8.14
1. Russia — 27
2. Canada — 26
3. United States — 20
4. France — 17
5. China — 16
6. Japan — 16
7. Germany — 15
8. Italy — 14
9. Great Britain — 7
10. Ukraine — 7
Ice Dance
Davis and White delivered for Team USA, with a performance that scored them a 75.98. It was enough to give the pair first-place in this leg of the competition and move the United States to third overall in the Team Figure Skating competition.
Here are the top five finishers from the Ice Dance – Short Dance portion of the team event:
Meryl Davis / Charlie White (USA) –75.98
TessaCirtue/Scott Moir (CAN) — 72.98
Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev (RUS) — 70.27
Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian Bourzat (FRA) — 69.15
Anna Cappellini / Luca Lanotte (ITA) — 64.92
With United States now in third, they are in good position to advance to the gold medal round on Sunday.
******
Men's short program
Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan, 97.98 (amazing performance!)
Yevgeny Plushenko, Russian Federation, 91.39
Patrick Chan, Canada, 89.71
Han Yan, China, 85.52
Florent Amodio, France, 79.93
Peter Liebers, Germany, 79.61
Jeremy Abbott, U.S., 65.65
Yakov Godorozha, Ukraine, 60.51
Matthew Parr, Great Britain, 57.40
Paul Bonifacio Parkinson, Italy, 53.94
Pairs short program
Russia, Tatyana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov, 83.79 (If you did not see this, go watch the video!!)
Canada, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford 73.10
China, Cheng Peng and Hao Zhang, 71.01
Italy, Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotark, 70.31
U.S., Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir, 64.25
Germany, Maylin and Daniel Wendy (married), 60.82
France, Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres, 57.45
Japan, Narumi Takahashi and Ryuichi Kihara, 46.56
Ukraine, Julia Lavrentieva and Yuri Rudyk, 46.34
Great Britain, Stacey Kemp and David King, 44.70
Schedule
Team event schedule (listed for U.S. Eastern time zone):
Thurs., Feb. 6
10:30 AM for Team – Men’s short program
12:10 PM ET for Team – Pairs short program
Sat., Feb. 8
9:30 AM ET for Team – Ice dancing short dance
11:10 AM ET for Team – Ladies’ short program
1:05 PM ET for Team – Pairs free skate
Sun., Feb. 9
10 AM ET for Team – Men’s free skate
11:05 AM ET for Team – Ladies’ free skate
12:10 PM ET for Team – Ice dancing free dance
Est.: 1:30 PM ET - Medals awarded
Figure skating team event: Understanding the new Winter Olympic competition
By Nicholas McCarvel, NBCOlympics.com
Jan 22, 6:15pm EST
The Sochi Games are home to the inaugural figure skating team event, which – much like gymnastics at the Summer Olympics – will give athletes a second chance to win an Olympic medal during the Games.
Here’s how it works:
Each nation entered will have one representative in men’s singles, women’s singles, pairs and ice dance skaters perform one short program and one free skate each. The event will include 10 nations and will be cut down to five after the all of the short programs are complete.
The teams are (No. 1 being the highest-ranked team):
1. Canada 6. France
2. Russia 7. China
3. U.S. 8. Germany
4. Japan 9. Ukraine
5. Italy 10. Great Britain
Teams will officially be announced on Feb. 5, the day before the team competition begins.
Team event schedule (listed for U.S. Eastern time zone):
Thurs., Feb. 6 at 10:30 AM for Team – Men’s short program
12:10 PM ET for Team – Pairs short program
Sat., Feb. 8 at 9:30 AM ET for Team – Ice dancing short dance
11:10 AM ET for Team – Ladies’ short program
1:05 PM ET for Team – Pairs free skate
Sun., Feb. 9 at 10 AM ET for Team – Men’s free skate
11:05 AM ET for Team – Ladies’ free skate
12:10 PM ET for Team – Ice dancing free dance
Est.: 1:30 PM ET - Medals awarded
Substitutions
Two skaters (or two couples or one skater and one couple) may be subbed out after the short program in any discipline. For example, the U.S. could enter Ashley Wagner in the women’s short and Gracie Gold in the women’s free skate. Team must be submitted to Olympic officials by Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Scoring
Each and every score for programs count towards a team's cumulative total - including the short program and free skate - with the highest total winning the gold medal. A skater's (or skaters') placement will earn them points: 10 for first, nine for second and so on. The team with the highest point total as the end of all eight segments will win gold.
RELATED: How to understand figure skating's scoring
Major players
Canada is the heavy favorite going in with reigning and three-time world champion Patrick Chan leading the way, buoyed by reining Olympic gold medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir in ice dancing. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are the country’s top pairs team, having won bronze at the 2013 World Championships.
Russia will also factor into the gold-medal conversation, led by four-time Olympian Yevgeny Plushenko. Their strongest skaters, however, are the reigning pairs world champions, Tatyana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov. Teenagers Yulia Lipnitskaya and Adelina Sotnikova have been rising stars on the ladies’ international circuit while ice dancers Yekaterina Bobrova and Dimitry Soloviyev were third at the World Championships this past year.
Team USA also is a part of team arms race, led by reigning and two-time world champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White in ice dancing. The U.S. could see both reigning champion Gracie Gold and two-time Ashley Wagner skate as well as two-time Olympian Jeremy Abbott. The U.S. - along with other teams - will officially name their teams on Feb. 5.
- See more at: www.nbcolympics.com/news/figure-skating-team-event-understanding-new-winter-olympic-competition#sthash.MrhFGrrV.dpuf
U.S. announces Castelli/ Shnapir and Jeremy Abbott for debut team event
By Nicholas McCarvel,
Feb 5, 1:15am EST
SOCHI, Russia – The U.S. announced just part of its team for the new Olympic figure skating event Wednesday, tapping two-time national champions Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir to skate the pairs short program while reigning national champion Jeremy Abbott will skate the men’s short program on Thursday night.
In a surprise move, the ladies singles and ice dance line-ups were not announced, however, nor were the free skate selections for the pairs and men's events. Those skaters will be announced in a rolling schedule over the weekend by the U.S. Figure Skating Association.
"I was hoping to find out the entire team today," said Johnny Weir, a former Olympian and current NBC Sports figure skating analyst. "I think it's a great opportunity for Simon and Marissa as well as Jeremy to start off the Olympics on the right foot."
The team event gets underway Thursday night in Sochi with the men’s short program, followed by pairs. The ladies and ice dance will skate Saturday, giving Team USA more time to decide who will represent it in an event it has a legitimate shot to win gold in. That announcement will come Friday morning at 10 AM local time.
Reigning world champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White are expected in the ice dance, but the ladies line-up could go any of several ways with new national champion Gracie Gold, two-time U.S. winner Ashley Wagner and rising star Polina Edmunds all serving as options for the event.
Teams are allowed two substitutions for the event. Jason Brown, he of "Riverdance" viral fame from Nationals, could be one of those subs for Abbott in the free skate, meaning the U.S. would have one more substitution at their disposal.
Many speculated before the announcement that Wagner would be named for the short program and Gold the free skate, each program playing to their strengths. But the U.S. Figure Skating Association needed another day to decide, meaning whatever the line-up could be will ultimately be a surprise.
"It's an intriguing decision by the USFSA not to announce the dance, ladies or the free skates for the men's and pairs," Weir added. "With the event getting so close, you can't just spring that pressure on the participants. However, I'm sure the athletes already know [what they're skating]."
Wagner skated Tuesday night in a practice session at the Olympic training rink, saying she felt good after a long day of travel from Munich. The 22-year-old has reverted back to her long program from the 2012-13 season after a dismal fourth-place finish at the U.S. Championships in January. Her short program, to Pink Floyd’s “Shine on me Crazy Diamond,” has been her strength throughout the year, though she fell on her triple-triple combination last month.
Gold, meanwhile, set a record with her overall score at Nationals and skated well in both her short and free skate programs. The 19-year-old Brown won the men's free skate with his crowd-pleasing Riverdance, landing eight triple jumps.
"Whoever they send out for short or free skate I believe the outcome will be positive," said 1998 Olympic champion and NBC Sports analyst Tara Lipinski. "Selecting Ashley for the short could be a nice way for her to shake off all the hype from Nationals and settle into the ice. She has a very powerful short program that could set the tone well for her individual event. Gracie is a solid choice for both programs. It would be beneficial for her to use this opportunity to acclimate to Olympic competition especially since she doesn’t like surprises and excels when she can focus in and feel at home."
Lipinski also added that Edmunds, making her debut in a senior international event, would be a strong free skate option.
Along with Japan, Russia and Canada the U.S. is seen as a threat for a medal in the team event, which is making its Olympic debut. Canada announced Wednesday that reigning and three-time world champion Patrick Chan will skate in the men's short program while Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, third at the World Championships in 2013, will skate in the pairs short.
- See more at: www.nbcolympics.com/news/us-announces-castelli-shnapir-and-jeremy-abbott-debut-team-event?ctx=team-usa#sthash.6qTK7YOf.dpuf
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Preview: U.S., Canada, Russia go after first-ever team figure skating medals
By Nicholas McCarvel, NBCOlympics.com
Feb 5, 6:30am EST
SOCHI, Russia – History is made at the Olympics Thursday night in Sochi when figure skating begins its first-ever team event, consisting of ten teams all chasing after three medals. The U.S. factors into the gold-medal conversation, anchored by reigning world champion ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White. Here, a comprehensive preview of the inaugural event.
How does it work?
In brief, the team event goes like this: skaters from all four disciplines (men’s, ladies, pairs and ice dance) skate both a short and long program with points being awaded for their placement in said events. Ten teams in total compete in the short program, with just the top five advancing to the free skate portion. Each team is allowed two substitutions between the short program and the free skate, meaning one man can skate in the men’s short, then another in the free skate. Substitutions can be made in ladies, pairs and/or ice dance, as well, as long as no more than two substitutions are made in total. For a comprehensive explanation of the team event and its proceeding, click here.
Who are the favorites?
Teams are ranked by an international system that tracks performances of skaters from throughout the skating season. Canada comes in as the top seed, followed by Russia, the U.S., Japan and Italy. The top four teams – Canada, Russia, the U.S. and Japan – are seen are the favorites for the three podium spots, with Italy having an outside shot at landing inside the top three.
Breaking it down
Canada has the upper hand because of strength in three out of the four disciplines: men’s, ice dance and pairs. The Canadians are led by reigning and three-time world champion Patrick Chan in men’s singles, followed closely by Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the ice dancers who won Olympic gold in Vancouver. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, Canada’s best pairs team, were third at the World Championships in 2013.
Russia isn’t far behind, particularly thanks to a surging season from 15-year-old Yulia Lipnitskaya, who became the youngest Euopean Championships winner ever in January. She joins Yevgeny Plushenko in singles, the 31-year-old veteran who was selected as the lone man to represent Russian after a controversial process. The reigning pairs world champions, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov, bolster that strong line-up, which also includes Yekaterina Bobrova and Dimitry Soloviyev, bronze medalists at the World Championships in 2013.
And what of the U.S.? No doubt its leader is the ice dancing duo of Davis/White, who have won two out of the last three World Championships golds and have not earned anything less than gold in almost two years. The Americans will need to outdo rivals and training partners Virtue/Moir to help the U.S. beat out Canada, however. Jeremy Abbott will skate the short program in the men’s event, while fellow U.S. champs Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir will do so in pairs. The great mystery lies in the ladies portion of the event, where it is believed that two-time U.S. champ Ashley Wagner will skate the short program and 2014 winner Gracie Gold will do the free skate. The wildcard: 15-year-old Polina Edmunds, who won silver in Boston and is also seen as a free-skate option.
What the experts say
“It's really going to between Russia, Canada and the U.S. for the medals,” said Johnny Weir, a two-time Olympian and analyst for NBC Sports. “It'll just be a matter of are the American dancers so much better than the rest of the field.”
“At the Olympics, it's such a different event from what you're training for in the span of four years,” says fellow analyst Tara Lipinski, who won Olympic gold in 1998. “Your process of peaking has to change because this is a whole different competition before the individual events.”
What Lipinski is referring to is that figure skaters are now dealing with twice the amount of skating that they normally would at the Olympics, something Weir said he would have “hated” and Lipinski “loved” having to skate two different events at one Games had the team event existed when they competed.
“If Chan skates well, he's far ahead of the Russian and U.S. men,” Weir adds. “For the ladies, Russia has a slight advantage there with the home ice and when you get to pairs it's all about the Russians. So it's a mixed bag. Everyone has their strengths, but it's going to be whoever goes out and blows us away.”
But who’s skating?
The U.S. – as mentioned above – has named its men’s and pairs participants for the short programs and will wait to announce ladies and dance until Friday. "Whoever they send out for short or free skate I believe the outcome will be positive," Lipinski said. "Selecting Ashley for the short could be a nice way for her to shake off all the hype from Nationals and settle into the ice. She has a very powerful short program that could set the tone well for her individual event. Gracie is a solid choice for both programs. It would be beneficial for her to use this opportunity to acclimate to Olympic competition especially since she doesn’t like surprises and excels when she can focus in and feel at home."
The ten countries skating are: Canada, Russia, the U.S., Japan, Italy, France, China, Germany, Ukraine and Great Britain.
Schedule
The team event kicks off Thursday night in Sochi at 7:30 pm local time (10:30 am ET) and will be streamed in its entirety on NBCOlympics.com. The men’s short program kicks off the competition, with Plushenko skating fourth, Abbott fifth and Chan ninth. Pairs is set to get underway thereafter, around 9:10 local time. Ladies and ice dance will skate their short programs – along with pairs free skate – Saturday night. For a full schedule of the team event, click here.
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