U.S. Men 2022-23 news & updates

[Sylvia]

Torgashev finished 5th overall at Challenge Cup today and his 164 ISU WS standings points means he is no longer unranked.

As of 2/25, Robert Yampolsky (presumably due to injury ) is listed as a substitute for next week's Junior Worlds, replaced by 1st alternate Michael Xie, on both the ISU's entry list and USFS' International Assignments page.

Fan Zone article on Daniel Martynov, 17 in April, who will make his debut at Junior Worlds in Calgary (placed 11th in his senior national debut in San Jose):

Martynov Aims to Skate Clean, Show What He Can Do in Junior World Debut - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

After struggling with injury in the 2021-22 season, Daniel Martynov is back to 100% and ready for his first ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

Nicholas Brooks, 15 (12th in Junior at Nationals; had the highest total score among all the Novice men at Sectionals in November 2022) won the Adv. Novice Men's gold medal yesterday in his Team USA debut at Challenge Cup (49.46 in SP, 74.36 in FS, 123.82 total).
He doesn't have a Team USA bio yet but here's the link to his new ISU bio: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00116594.htm
He cleanly landed al ofl his planned SP jumps (3Lz+2T, 3Lo & 2A) as well as a clean 3Lz+3T in his FS (3 falls).

 

[ice coverage]

... Nicholas Brooks, 15 (12th in Junior at Nationals; had the highest total score among all the Novice men at Sectionals in November 2022) won the Adv. Novice Men's gold medal yesterday in his Team USA debut at Challenge Cup (49.46 in SP, 74.36 in FS, 123.82 total).
He doesn't have a Team USA bio yet but here's the link to his new ISU bio: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00116594.htm
He cleanly landed al ofl his planned SP jumps (3Lz+2T, 3Lo & 2A) as well as a clean 3Lz+3T in his FS (3 falls).

Congratulations to Nicholas Brooks!
Anecdote from Nats:

I was impressed that at morning practice for Senior Men at SAP, Nicholas was an early bird who showed up by himself to observe -- he even was writing down notes in a notebook.​

Some young skater-friends eventually straggled in to sit with him and simply watch, but Nicholas seemed to take the learning opportunity extra-seriously.​

(BTW:

Nicholas recently attended the ISU advanced novice camp held in conjunction with Four Continents, as did Aleksandr Fegan and Zachary LoPinto -- among others from USA and elsewhere.​

More about Nicholas is at the crowdfunding link in his Instagram bio: https://www.instagram.com/skater_nicholas/ )​

Sorry that Yampolsky had to withdraw from Junior Worlds, after making big strides during this season.
But I'm excited for Michael Xie.

Congratulations to Torgashev as well.

 

[YukiNieve]

The cover of Nathan's book translated in Japanese is just released - the cover looks quite different from English version, but nice.

https://twitter.com/ryoga4min/status/1629259730916102144

 

[Sylvia]

BTW: Nicholas recently attended the ISU advanced novice camp held in conjunction with Four Continents, as did Aleksandr Fegan and Zachary LoPinto -- among others from USA and elsewhere.

Thanks for mentioning this! I saw, but haven't watched, that LoPinto was invited to perform in the 4CC exhibition and skated to "Can't Feel My Face" by The Weeknd. Nicholas Brooks' photos from the Advanced Novice (singles) Workshop that was organized by USFS at 4CC: https://www.instagram.com/p/ColWYZrrVE3/
Patrick Blackwell, Marlo Rosen and Alek Tankovic were the other 3 of the 6 U.S. boys who were selected to participate based (primarily AFAIK) on the High Performance National Development Camp that was held this year in conjunction with Nationals in San Jose. (I'll post about the 6 girls in the U.S. Women's news thread.)

I've just posted some info I found online about the camp including some of the non-USA skaters here: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...ters-news-articles.108762/page-2#post-6397890

 

[skatfan]

Jason Brown did a lengthy interview with Golden Skate:

Jason Brown on moving forward: Feb 2023 Interview

USA's Jason Brown talks about moving forward in this interview leading up to the 2023 World Figure Skating Championships. Listen in while he touches on a myr...

youtu.be

 

[YukiNieve]

I thought this will be Johnny (Weir)'s last performance in Delaware, his hometown, but will this be his last performance in the US as IG says here!?

Johnny will likely be in the shows in Japan this summer and I heard this year will be his last year to perform, but is he retiring from skating in the US with this shows in Delaware?

Instagram

www.instagram.com

 

[Sylvia]

As of 2/25, Robert Yampolsky (presumably due to injury ) is listed as a substitute for next week's Junior Worlds, replaced by 1st alternate Michael Xie

USFS' media alert on Sunday siad: "Robert Yampolsky withdraws from #WorldJFigure for medical reasons. Michael Xie will replace him."

A Japanese fan in Calgary just tweeted a clip of the beginning of Lucas Broussard's FS run through yesterday (4T, 3Lo, 3A): https://twitter.com/kote1102/status/1630961345687601152

The same fan posted Lucas' FS run through on IG (same layout as Nationals; he skipped the 2nd half 3F+1Eu+3S, landed both 3Lz+3T combos & final 2A): https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpQMhyHpl7z/

ETA - I never posted (in this thread) my clip of Lucas' 4T in practice at Nationals and his funny medal ceremony moment (scroll down): https://twitter.com/SylviaUnseen/status/1618532784133509120

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

USFS' media alert on Sunday siad: "Robert Yampolsky withdraws from #WorldJFigure for medical reasons. Michael Xie will replace him."

A Japanese fan in Calgary just tweeted a clip of the beginning of Lucas Broussard's FS run through yesterday (4T, 3Lo, 3A): https://twitter.com/kote1102/status/1630961345687601152

The same fan posted Lucas' FS run through on IG (same layout as Nationals; he skipped the 2nd half 3F+1Eu+3S, landed both 3Lz+3T combos & final 2A): https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpQMhyHpl7z/

ETA - I never posted (in this thread) my clip of Lucas' 4T in practice at Nationals and his funny medal ceremony moment (scroll down): https://twitter.com/SylviaUnseen/status/1618532784133509120

Brussard`s jump technique looks so strong - rotation fast and straight. Could be medal contender.

 

[Karen-W]

Brussard`s jump technique looks so strong - rotation fast and straight. Could be medal contender.

I'd be shocked if he's not given he won silver at the JGPF...

 

[Sylvia]

Re-posting my replies re. Broussard (7th) & Martynov (10th) from the Junior Worlds Men FS pbp thread in Kiss & Cry (Xie had a rough SP and finished 34th of 42):

Of course my heart is sad for Lucas. He had a bad warm up with nerves and couldn’t shake them for his skate. Rushed everything. And he is usually a good competitor, although he has a short competition track record missing Nationals and Junior Worlds last year. I hope he turns senior and continues to develop as a senior next year. Junior results are fun but don‘t really matter in the long run. What matters is what you learn from it and take forward to build on.

Agreed. Considering Broussard didn't start competing until August last year, his season has been very successful. At Nationals he attempted 4T (landed) and 3A (fell out) in the same program for the first time so Junior Worlds was the first time he tried this FS layout internationally.

Martynov did a good job considering this is his second time competing internationally this year. He only had one Junior Grand Prix. He seems so Russian but the bio says he was born in Naperville, IL.

Before Daniel moved his training based to Florida he was coached by his parents (both his mom, Marina Gromova, and his father are still listed as part of his coaching/choreography team) in the Chicago area - more about them here: https://www.creativeicetheatre.com/coaches.html

USFS' International Assignments page has yet to be is now updated to add Coupe du Printemps (March 17-19 in Luxembourg) - USA has 4 men's entries listed as of March 6:

Jimmy Ma (S5/4CC-9) - currently #25 in the ISU WS standings

Junior: Jacob Sanchez (J2) & Daniil Murzin (J4 - his international debut; turned 19 last August)

Adv. Novice: Zachary LoPinto (J11 as a novice; turned 14 last August)

 

[her grace]

Yay for Sanchez getting to go and for Murzin getting this last junior chance.

 

[crzesk8dad]

Re-posting my replies re. Broussard (7th) & Martynov (10th) from the Junior Worlds Men FS pbp thread in Kiss & Cry (Xie had a rough SP and finished 34th of 42):

Agreed. Considering Broussard didn't start competing until August last year, his season has been very successful. At Nationals he attempted 4T (landed) and 3A (fell out) in the same program for the first time so Junior Worlds was the first time he tried this FS layout internationally.

Before Daniel moved his training based to Florida he was coached by his parents (both his mom, Marina Gromova, and his father are still listed as part of his coaching/choreography team) in the Chicago area - more about them here: https://www.creativeicetheatre.com/coaches.html

USFS' International Assignments page has yet to be is now updated to add Coupe du Printemps (March 17-19 in Luxembourg) - USA has 4 men's entries listed as of March 6:

Jimmy Ma (S5/4CC-9) - currently #25 in the ISU WS standings

Junior: Jacob Sanchez (J2) & Daniil Murzin (J4 - his international debut; turned 19 last August)

Adv. Novice: Zachary LoPinto (J11 as a novice; turned 14 last August)

Except USFS put the boys in the girls' column and the girls in the boys'. Ooops!

 

[Sylvia]

Except USFS put the boys in the girls' column and the girls in the boys'. Ooops!

That's easily fixed (thanks for the heads up - I hadn't noticed).

ETA: Fixed now!

 

[YukiNieve]

David Shapiro has been invited to perform for Kana and Daisuke's shows, Ice Explosion (5/12-5/14/2023) in Japan.

I think David is based in Delaware now; I wonder how they got to know each other, but this is a very exciting news.

アイスエクスプロージョン2023

ICE EXPLOSION 2023（アイスエクスプロージョン2023） 公式WEBサイト。

www.ice-explosion.com

 

[Firedancer]

Interview with Andrew Torgashev ahead of worlds:
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2023/03/16/figure-skating-andrew-torgashev-2023-world-championships/

 

[Sylvia]

^^^ Thanks! Some excerpts from Hersh's article:

For the next two seasons, a hard-to-diagnose right foot injury forced Torgashev to learn Arutunian’s methods while observing from the stands. He was unable to compete in both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, and his aerobic activity was limited to low resistance pedaling of an exercise bike. Stymied, he wondered at times if he should say, “Enough.”
“I truly almost did,” he said. “I had moved out to California and was living on my own for the first time, and it was just a tough situation to be in, and I was wondering what else life held for me outside of skating.
“But then I quickly came to the realization that I just wasn’t ready to let this go yet. I still have love for the sport, and I felt like I hadn’t maxed out my potential. For all the people that helped me along the way, especially my parents, I couldn’t just let it go without giving it my best shot.”
That became possible last summer, after the Florida doctor who had done the ankle surgery diagnosed the foot injury as a dislocated metatarsal and offered him the choice of another surgery or a rehab program to strengthen the foot and keep the bone in place. He chose rehab. So far, so good.

It still took Torgashev time to understand the meaning of the coach’s consistent message: that skaters should take more and more responsibility for their own training.
“It’s a huge change to everything I’ve been used to,” he said. “With my parents and with Christy in Colorado, the coaches had such a big role in my training and what I was doing. I felt like I was just following their steps. Whereas here, I’m constructing this plan and using the knowledge that Raf is giving to me.”
The injuries have so far made it impossible for Torgashev to expand his quad repertoire beyond the toe loop (he has unsuccessfully tried one quad Salchow), and the free skate quad toe at 2023 Nationals is one of the few he has landed cleanly. With a full off-season of training, Arutunian hopes Torgashev can do three quads in his free skate next year and four the season after.

Torgashev has needed help from his parents and does some coaching to make ends meet in as expensive a place to live as Orange County, California. Making the world team will bring him substantial support from U.S. Figure Skating for the first time. That is a nice side benefit to having his plans turned inside-out.
“I’m looking forward to skate in front of the Japanese fans,” Torgashev said. “I think every skater dreams of being in a place where the skating is so appreciated, with an audience that’s so into the sport.
“After the work that I’ve put in over these past few years, pushing on when things weren’t easy, I’m just going for enjoyment right now.”

ETA that this same article is published on Yahoo! Sports as well (March 16):

Ahead of world championships debut, Andrew Torgashev is building instead of grinding

U.S. figure skater Andrew Torgashev discusses his journey through various injuries and coaches to reach the 2023 World Figure Skating Championships.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[just tuned in]

David Shapiro was in the cast of "Beards on Ice," a show by the Bearded Ladies Cabaret. He was really wonderful, as were performances by Michael Solonoski (US Adult Gold Medalist) and David Devan (Canada)

Here are two links:

https://whyy.org/articles/philly-drag-show-climate-change-on-ice-bearded-ladies/

So meta! A drag skating show about fighting climate change reels under climate change

"The premise is basically that the climate crisis is so impossible to address, it’s almost as impossible as getting drag queens to skate," artistic director John Jarboe said.

www.inquirer.com

 

[tony]

Oh great, another thread to read about what drag definitively is and is not

 

[just tuned in]

Yeah, that silly "promo" talk is unfortunate. John Jarbeaux had been a talented hockey player and was extremely comfortable on his skates. Several of the other queens learned to skate just for the show, also and were remarkable.

 

[livetoskate]

Congratulations to Jimmy Ma on winning the gold at Coupe du Printemps!

 

[Sylvia]

Congratulations to Jimmy Ma on winning the gold at Coupe du Printemps!

This is Jimmy's first international GOLD MEDAL!

Senior Men (top 5 should get ISU WS points because the 8th man skated in the SP before withdrawing)
GOLD Jimmy MA USA 222.73 1 1 (80.94 in SP, 141.79 in FS) - 250 World Standings ranking points for 1st

USFS' International Assignments page has yet to be is now updated to add Coupe du Printemps (March 17-19 in Luxembourg) - USA has 4 men's entries listed as of March 6:

Jimmy Ma (S5/4CC-9) - currently #25 in the ISU WS standings

Junior: Jacob Sanchez (J2) & Daniil Murzin (J4 - his international debut; turned 19 last August)

Adv. Novice: Zachary LoPinto (J11 as a novice; turned 14 last August)

Yay for Sanchez getting to go and for Murzin getting this last junior chance.

Murzin was listed as withdrawn as of March 10 on USFS' International Assignments page.

Junior Men (event ended yesterday)
GOLD Jacob SANCHEZ USA 212.63 1 1 - FIRST 3A landed in competition/his FS (8.00 bv + 2.13 GOE = 10.13)
70.29 in SP and 142.34 in FS - his FS protocol sheet and my tweeted clip of Jacob's opening 3A from the livestream: https://twitter.com/SylviaUnseen/status/1637209589727780864

Advanced Novice Boys (first event earlier today)
GOLD Zachary LOPINTO USA 111.80 1 2

ETA link to coupeduprintemps_lux's photo of the Junior Men's podium and Jacob Sanchez with his winner's trophy (not medal): https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp9-V8sIK_x/

Also, the Skating Club of Boston tweeted 3 photos on Monday ("Congratulations to Club athletes Jimmy Ma and Zachary LoPinto for winning gold medals in the senior men and advanced novice boys events at the Coupe du Printemps 2023 in Luxembourg!" (Boyko Alexiev coached both of them in LUX):

https://twitter.com/x/status/1637839840002670593

 

[Firedancer]

Interview with Jason ahead of worlds. I hope he will continue next season.
https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/...-browns-unconventional-journey-to-worlds.aspx

 

[On My Own]

Ilia's bloody 6 quad program being beaten by THAT James Bond is one of the worst things that has happened in men's skating, and this is the discipline that gave us

Maybe the judges were scared Cha would blow up the rink if they didn't put him ahead. That's the only reason that comes to my mind.

 

[Jammers]

Ilia's bloody 6 quad program being beaten by THAT James Bond is one of the worst things that has happened in men's skating, and this is the discipline that gave us

Maybe the judges were scared Cha would blow up the rink if they didn't put him ahead. That's the only reason that comes to my mind.

You did see Ilia's bad landings on most of his quads right? And he was slow and paled in comparison to the other skaters as a performer which is fine since the final group of skaters had anywhere from 7 to 12 years on him in age and way more experience.

 

[olympic]

I will have to watch the LP when I get a moment, but it sounds like if he had cleaner landings on a few jumps, it would have been close for 2nd. Perhaps he tightened up. A lot of good, inexperienced skaters get nervous at big competitions which reflects in the ability to rotate.

Bigger issue than those small jump problems is his PCS. The intl. judges are (rightfully) telling him to focus on the 2nd mark if he wants more -> maturity, choreography, smooth / seamless basic skills, etc., and he acknowledged that in the post-comp press conference. He's being shown a road map to greater success by the ISU. Hopefully, he follows it.

 

[Frau Muller]

Cha wiggles nicely to the music!

Ilia needs to obtain a little style & sass.

 

[skatfan]

Cha has beautiful body control, had beautiful jumps in the free, and an inspiring skate. It was the skate of his life!

Ilia started off with awkward jumping passes and the program never took flight. In spite of that, he won the bronze- that’s amazing!

 

[Lizziebeth]

Cha has beautiful body control, had beautiful jumps in the free, and an inspiring skate. It was the skate of his life!

Ilia started off with awkward jumping passes and the program never took flight. In spite of that, he won the bronze- that’s amazing!

ITA about Cha. Ilia should be very proud of that bronze medal at his seond worlds. It was a tough field with some excellent performances!

Edited to recognize that Ilia was at Worlds last year! I knew that but I must tired from watching skating around the clock for a few days!

 

[skatingguy]

ITA about Cha. Ilia should be very proud of that bronze medal at his first worlds. It was a tough field with some excellent performances!

2nd Worlds - he was 9th last year.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Well Ilia won the technical portion and Jason won PCS, not too shabby.