Four Pairs, Three American, One German, Give Us Bad News

Three American pairs withdraw from Nationals, including 2015 National Champions; German #2 team announce mid-season breakup.

Things were bad enough on Monday, when next week’s U.S. National Championships saw two withdrawals, only one expected. But matters got worse two days later, when no fewer than three teams pulled out of the pairs competition. This was also the day after one German team had already made it a bad week for pairs by abruptly ending their partnership, two weeks before their next competition.

Knierims Biggest of Three Nationals Withdrawals

U.S Figure Skating announced the withdrawal of three pairs Wednesday, but only one got a press release. Alexa Scimeca Knierim & Chris Knierim, as they became after marrying in the summer, have been out all season. We still don’t entirely know what happened; this is the first we even learned what kind of surgery she needed. All we really know is that she was greatly afflicted, that the problem was going on long before she endured the surgery in September, and that after it she said she was okay, but they weren’t going to make their Grand Prix events. They gave the same line here, saying she hasn’t suffered any further complications, but they just couldn’t get back in shape in time even for Nationals.

For even her recovery to keep them out this long, the problem must have been bad indeed. It sounds like they might still be able to compete at Worlds. It’s still another two months away, and it’s hard to believe they couldn’t get back in shape by then. Of course, in order to go, U.S. Figure Skating has to be willing to send them without their earning their trip at Nationals. They are still pretty much the U.S.’s best hope for any kind of pairs success, but their track record last year wasn’t great, and they were never at the top of anything internationally. If they petition to be put on the Worlds team, which they would have to do, the decision could go either way.

If they are out for the entire season, it certainly won’t be helpful for their careers. Still, their chances of getting back on top of the national scene next season, and making their first Olympics, would remain pretty good. That’s if they come back roughly at the level were at before things went wrong, though.

In a tweet immediately after, U.S. Figure Skating also announced the withdrawal of Jessica Calalang & Zack Sidhu and Caitlin Fields & Ernie Utah Stevens. Stevens tweeted an explanation right after: Fields suffered a concussion back in November, and isn’t recovered yet. We don’t know why Calalang & Sidhu are out, though he has a history of back issues. Neither are high profile, and neither withdrawal will affect the competition at the top. But the field is now reduced to only twelve pairs, and one starts to get nervous about the rest.

Vartmann & Blommaert Announce Mid-Season Split

Germany did at least get some good news Tuesday: their premiere international event, the Nebelhorn Trophy in Obertsdorf, will once again be the fall Olympic qualifier. But they themselves have lost a promising team who they likely would’ve sent to the Games otherwise. The same day, the German federation announced the split of Mari Vartmann & Ruben Blommaert (in German). They would’ve competed in the European Championships, one of the biggest competitions of the year, in only two weeks’ time.

Mari Vartmann is a longtime veteran of the pairs scene, getting respectable results with two different partners before teaming up with Blommaert in 2015. He himself had done well with his previous partner on the junior scene. This was considered a promising partnership, one that had already earned a top ten finish at last year’s Europeans, and would have almost certainly gone to their first World Championships together.

A day later, concrete details are still thin on the ground. The cause of the breakup was only said to be “personal”. Another article (also in German) Wednesday reiterated that their coaches and federation both tried to avert it, to no avail. The rumor mill has churned like mad, speaking of personality conflicts, and Blommaert already having potential new partners in mind. The second article did confirm their both looking for new partners.

There are no obvious new partners for either in Germany, though. If Blommaert’s already got someone in mind, it likely is some singles skater he hopes to induce to switch to pairs. They could also look for foreign-born partners. Vartmann even took that route for her last partnership before him. But they could not rely on the German government to be willing to grant a foreign-born partner citizenship fast enough for a new unproven team to attend the Olympics.

Next: South Korean Nationals: Highlights & Results

Meanwhile, the loss of them could have immediate consequences for Germany at Europeans. Since Aliona Savchenko & Bruno Massot still might not be able to compete there either, the results could very well see Germany go down from three berths this year to only one for next season’s championship. The German officials were right to express dismay at this breakup.