The U.S. Figure Skating Championships are upon us, which means it’s time for the first annual official Oh My Quad Senior Men’s Nationals predictions! It's been a long time coming and while I want to do more for predictions in the future, hopefully, this is a good enough starting point. Without further ado, let's get into it!
Senior Men's podium
Gold: Ilia Malinin
Silver: Jason Brown
Bronze: Andrew Torgashev
Pewter: Jimmy Ma
As much as I’ve been rooting for a Jason Brown National Champion moment after Nathan Chen stepped away from competing, I don’t think we’re going to get that as long as Ilia Malinin is around. Working with choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne has significantly improved Malinin’s artistic skills and has him performing artistically on a level that’s closer to that of his technical performance. The addition of the quad Axel has also improved Malinin’s scores, and without consistent quads, Brown likely won’t be able to keep up.
However, Brown’s artistic skills are arguably the best of any skater in America – some would even say in the world. His skills have gotten him great placements within a crowd of quad jumpers before and if Malinin’s skills fail him this weekend, Brown has the potential to swoop in and grab 1st place. Of all the men competing this weekend, the gold medal is Malinin’s to lose and Brown’s to win.
With Andrew Torgashev being the 2023 bronze medalist and performing pretty well internationally, I think he’s the best candidate for the 2024 bronze medal. My thought process with this has less to do with scores and placements, though, and more with the fact that I don’t think he (or any other U.S. man aside from Malinin) will have the component or technical scores to top Jason Brown, and I don’t think any other U.S. man has the scores or the consistency to top Torgashev.
U.S. Figure Skating has a huge consistency problem with its selection of men right now and Torgashev is one of few dependable skaters. True, he’s slightly underperforming from the level he was at a few seasons ago, but keep in mind that Torgashev took the entire 2020-2021 season off due to an injury – that’s going to take some time to come back from. Seeing as, in the two seasons since his injury Torgashev has had three top-ten international placements (one bronze medal at the 2023 Lombardia Trophy and a bronze medal at the 2023 U.S. Nationals), I think he’s slowly rising back to the level he was at before his injury.
I’ve got to have at least one pick that’s downright bonkers, and for this year it’s Jimmy Ma for the pewter medal. I know a lot of predictors will have Camden Pulkinen on the podium, but hear me out. I'll admit that when you compare Ma’s and Pulkinen’s international results, Pulkinen looks like the better candidate – he’s regularly placing in the top five at his Grand Prix assignments and in the top four for his Challenger Series assignments. Ma’s international placements haven’t been that high and consistent.
However, this isn’t an international competition. This is Nationals, and if you compare each man’s Nationals placements, I think Ma looks like the better pick. In the past three Nationals, Ma has earned placements in the top six and top five, a vast improvement from the previous competitions, when his highest placement was 10th place. Pulkinen’s placements, on the other hand, have wavered over the past three years, from 8th in 2021, to 5th in 2022, back down to 8th in 2023. So, while Pulkinen has the better international record, I think the inconsistencies in his placements combined with Ma’s steadily rising Nationals placements indicate that this may be Ma’s year to take the pewter.
What do you all think? Am I spot-on, out of my mind, or somewhere in between? Let me know what you think, and share who you have for the top four!
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