Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com
Gosh, didn't they say the same thing about Emily's sister?
If they did they were just saying it to add drama. Sarah Hughes has success at the International level prior to the 2002 Olympics. She was 3rd at Worlds in 2001 and 5th the previous year. Emily, on the other hand, has not.
With all the crowing about how great the new judging system is, the truth is there's still plenty of latitude for the judges to prop up the skaters they like. It's highly unlikely for a new upstart to come in and medal unless they do something pretty impressive.
After watching the pairs competition last night it struck me that the Chinese pair of Shen and Zhao (the team where the guy ruptured his Achilles last year) were probably in a similar position to Kwan. No one expected them to be healthy enough to compete, yet there they were. I'm sure there's a fourth place team sitting home in China that could have filled in if needed, but Shen and Zhao earned their spot by being the best Chinese pairs team before Zhao's injury.
Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com
Gosh, didn't they say the same thing about Emily's sister?
If they did they were just saying it to add drama. Sarah Hughes has success at the International level prior to the 2002 Olympics. She was 3rd at Worlds in 2001 and 5th the previous year. Emily, on the other hand, has not.
With all the crowing about how great the new judging system is, the truth is there's still plenty of latitude for the judges to prop up the skaters they like. It's highly unlikely for a new upstart to come in and medal unless they do something pretty impressive.
After watching the pairs competition last night it struck me that the Chinese pair of Shen and Zhao (the team where the guy ruptured his Achilles last year) were probably in a similar position to Kwan. No one expected them to be healthy enough to compete, yet there they were. I'm sure there's a fourth place team sitting home in China that could have filled in if needed, but Shen and Zhao earned their spot by being the best Chinese pairs team before Zhao's injury.
