Olympic Countdown: 6 Days

Welcome back to Gail's Completely Biased and Non-Expert Opinions on the US Olympic figure skating team! (This is where you shout and whistle and throw confetti. Or applaud politely.)

Earlier this week, I talked about the ladies' team, so check that out if you missed it. As of today there are SIX days left until the Olympics! So I'm going to jump to the men's team.

MEN...

Based upon results from last year's World Championships, the US qualified only two guys for Sochi. Evan Lysacek (2010 Olympic gold medalist) withdrew from Nationals because of injury (which made me quite sad...love him!) The field was wide open at Nationals, and there were probably 5-6 guys who could've placed in the top two and been named to the Olympic team.  In the end, it was...

Jeremy Abbott
photo used under a
Creative Commons License,
attributed to David W. Carmichael

Jeremy Abbott took first place by skating two amazing programs. Jeremy is one of those skaters who, when he's on, he's ON. He's got everything he needs to win gold in Sochi, but he can't let the mental game get to him. See, skating is just as much about the mind games as it is the athleticism and artistic ability. It is SO easy to let that little, doubting, insecure voice in the back of your head get too loud. Jeremy has the great record (he's a four-time National champion, including 2010 when he also went to the Olympics and placed 9th) and tons of international competitive experience. He's been steadily improving all season, which is exactly what he should be doing. I absolutely love his skating, and hope he brings it all to the Olympics.


Jason Brown
photo used under a
Creative Commons License,
attributed to David W. Carmichael

Jason Brown took second at Nationals. There is nothing you can't love about him. (Excuse me while I put on my Mom hat.) He's so gosh-darned cute! Look at that smile and that ponytail. And did you hear him sing Disney tunes on the backstage feed at Nationals? I want to adopt him and bake him cookies. (Mom hat off.) Jason has great jumps (but not the quad, yet, which could hold him back at the Olympics) and tons of potential. He's crazy flexible, doing split jumps and half-Biellmanns. And he has this performance energy that crowds eat up. Seriously. If you don't believe me, watch this video (and watch to the very end to see his super adorable reaction to his scores):

Stayed tuned for my completely biased and non-expert opinions on the US pairs team...