I've been reading the predictions of various skaters' retirements after the 2010 season and sniffling in advance at the thought of many of my personal faves saying goodby to competition. Who is waiting in the wings to swoop in and rise to the top?
I've been reading the predictions of various skaters' retirements after the 2010 season and sniffling in advance at the thought of many of my personal faves saying goodby to competition. Who is waiting in the wings to swoop in and rise to the top?
Having not read the other thread, this is just off the top of my head. In the US in ladies, I would think Alexe Gilles, Angela Maxwell and Christine Musademba (sp?). In mens, Brandon Morz, Stephen Carriere (sp?), Austin Kallakan, Keegan Messing, Daniel O'Shea and Victor Travis. In pairs, I don't see M/B retiring unless they win a medal and/or injury inteferes. I'm drawing a blank on other teams right now. In dance, I would think the Hubbels would stick around and Chock and Zurelin, Samuelson and Bates.
I'm sorry, it's early yet. I may think of more later and I just don't know other countries' skaters well enough to speculate. I could venture some guesses about Canada, but I could be totally off the mark.
Flatt, Leonova, Zhang, Kozuka, Mroz, Rippon, Brezina, Grigoriev, Ten, Lutai, Amodio, possibly Chan, Verner, Abbott, Mukhortova/Trankov (who have often expressed their intent on competing to 2014), McLaughlin/Brubaker, Denney/Barrett, Iliushechkina/Maisuradze, Davis/White, Pechalat/Bourzat, Khokhlova/Novitski, Cappellini/Lanotte, Samuelson/Bates, Chock/Zuerlein, to name a few.
Last edited by museksk8r; 07-20-2009 at 02:19 PM.
Men
1) Tomas Verner
Yes, he's been here for a while, but after 2010, he'll be the leading European guy.
2) Patrick Chan
No need to explain why
3) Florent Amodio
He'll be making his senior debut and has world champ potential
4) Denis Ten
He's got world champ stuff in him too
5) Takahito Kozuka
Ladies:
1) Laura Lepistö
2) Caroline Zhang
3) Rachel Flatt
4) Alena Leonova
Pairs:
1) Lubov ILIUSHECHKINA & Nodari MAISURADZE
2) Keauna MCLAUGHLIN & Rockne BRUBAKER
Ice-dancing
1) Virtue & Moir
2) Davis & White
3) Cappellini & Lanotte
4) Rubleva & Shefer
Keegan Messing all the way, baby!
Men:
Totally agree on Keegan Messing, Toni! And Adam Rippon. Maybe Douglas Razzano. Patrick Chan, Michel Brezina, Florent Amodio, Oda, Kozuka
Ladies
Rachael Flatt, Caroline Zhang, Mirai Nagasu, Angela Maxwell, Kristine Musademba in the US, Leonova, Suzuki, Joshi Helgessen, Ivana REITMAYEROVA, Meite FRA
Dance:
D&W, Shibutanis (maybe skating for Japan), Samuelson/Bates or Chock/Zuerlein, Khoklova & Novitski, Pechalat/Bourzat, Ralph/Hill
Pairs: Iluschkina/Maisuradze RUS, Castelli/Shnapir USA, Zhangs (I think they will stay in), James/ Bonheur FRA, Takahashi /Tran JPN, Wang&Zhang CHN, Sweigers/Lawrence CAN
Mine will be a bit more vague...
Ladies: For the ladies, it depends on who does end up leaving. If we lose Kim, Asada and Rochette (which, is very doubtful, especially because Kim and Asada are still not "old" and could attempt Sochi) I believe that it will be another age of the Americans. Zhang, Flatt, Nagasu, and Wagner will have a lot of pressure if they continue to improve, while Europeans like Lepisto will be in the game as well. I do think, however, that by Sochi, we will be talking about the rising Russian stars, like Sotnikova and Tuktamisheva, and if they can adapt. Luckily, I also think they will take the place of where Zhang and Flatt are today: the young stars who could potentially steal a medal.
Pairs: I believe that, atleast for a while, the Chinese dominance will slowly fade out, and the unstoppable ones may become Kawaguchi/Smirnov if they remain on the ice, with Murkhotova/Trankov and Volosozhar/Morozov there, but I do think that Duhamel/Bunton actually make a run at the podiums, just as Dube/Davison had, and who I have a really good feeling about. However, I think the American stars will be battling to podium contenders, so we'll see a lot more of McLaughlin/Brubaker and Denney/Barret. Who knows, after the Russian skaters move on, it could be an American era of pairs.
Dance: Honestly, I know it's simplifying things, but just as today theres Domnina/Shabalin and Belbin/Agosto fighting things out for the top spot, Virtue/Moir and Davis/White will take their spots. Although Virtue/Moir have had much more success...Davis/White showed this past season what they could do, and could very well win golds over Virtue/Moir, just as they did at 4CC. However, at any faulter, just as Delobel/Schoenfelder took advantage of mistakes by Dom/Shabs and Bel/Agosto, Pechalat/Bourzat could very well make runs at gold, potentially even a worlds championship. Eyes will definitely remain on teams like Carron/Jost and Crone/Poirier, who I think will began the third rivalry that will come after V/M vs D/W...against hopefully Samuelson/Bates. But time will tell, especially with Chock/Zuerlein and Shibutani/Shibutani coming up!
Last edited by pista04; 07-22-2009 at 12:20 AM.
I think some skaters might not retire, and also there are some new skaters who made successful debuts just this past season, like Denis Ten. With that in mind, and focusing on younger but not necessarily junior skaters:
Men: Chan, Ten, Kozuka, Brezina, Amodio, Rippon and (I hope) Yuzuru Hanyu, but not for another two years or so.
Pairs: Iluschkina/Maisuradze, Wang/Zhang, possibly the baby Swiss team Ingo Steuer is training.
Dance: whoever is in the top ten and doesn't retire? I think Samuelson/Bates should move up, but really there are so many good American teams right now, it's hard to say how things will turn out. Personally, I'd like to see the Shibutanis do well in seniors.
Ladies: too hard to predict because of the effect of growth spurts. Also, I don't really care that much; the best I can do is Leonova and Jenni Vahamaa.
It's hard to say what Nathalie and Fabian will do, as they have been in senior for many years and are not that young (he's 28, she's 25), so both would be in their 30s at Sochi. Also, Nathalie has expressed some frustration with the judging system, which she feels is not conducive to creativity. I imagine they'll stay on at least to medal at Worlds but I'm not sure they will be around for another full Olympic cycle.Originally Posted by pista04
Carron/Jost split in April. She is skating with Lloyd Jones and he's looking for a partner AFAIK.
Difficult for me to fill the gap without knowing who leaves. While I think Plushenko will bow out after 2010 as well as Joubert, Verner, It will be Brezina to fill the gap over Contesti, etc.
Leonova will become the numero uno in the Ladies of Europe
The Russians will have the Pairs and Skate Dance Teams back in their corner
and so it goes with Europe
It will definitely be interesting to see how the Russian stars develop into Senior Ladies. They are still so young! I see Rochette retiring. I think Kim or Asada will retire if they win Olympic gold. But who knows, maybe they will have motivation to keep trying to win World titles, etc.
An American era of pairs would be amazing. I don't think we've ever had one of those before.Pairs: I believe that, atleast for a while, the Chinese dominance will slowly fade out, and the unstoppable ones may become Kawaguchi/Smirnov if they remain on the ice, with Murkhotova/Trankov and Volosozhar/Morozov there, but I do think that Duhamel/Bunton actually make a run at the podiums, just as Dube/Davison had, and who I have a really good feeling about. However, I think the American stars will be battling to podium contenders, so we'll see a lot more of McLaughlin/Brubaker and Denney/Barret. Who knows, after the Russian skaters move on, it could be an American era of pairs.
I'll be interested in seeing if Zhang/Zhang stick around. They are young enough, but 2010 will already be their third Olympics and they've been at the top for a while now. Maybe the idea of winning a major title (if the don't win one in 2010) will keep them around for their 4th(!) Olympic cycle. If they do stay, I hope they can skate more inspired, but I won't hold my breath for that.
Kawaguchi/Smirnov (she will be 28), Volosozhar/Morozov (he will be 31), Duhamel Bunton (he is 29)... I could see them all retiring after 2010. However, age is just a number. Who knows what their plans are, but I do expect some of the younger pairs to end up in the spotlight in the upcoming years.
Last edited by gold12345; 07-22-2009 at 02:03 PM.
As I said in the other thread, Mao is planning to continue at least until Sochi, possibly even after Sochi. It was even mentioned once or twice by TAT and Mao that she might have a go at Olympics 2014, though, for obvious reasons, this is a very tentative plan right now.
Who will step up after some of the big guns retire? I think the most obvious choice would be the skaters who are currently showing potential and/or battling for medals, but who will not retire after Vancouver.
Of course, there are some youngsters who have the potential to become contenders over the next 1-3 years. I keep an eye on Kanako Murakami, Yukiko Fujisawa, Mari Suzuki, Tuktamisheva, Polina Shelepen (sp?), Jenni Vahaama, Daisuke Murakami, Tatsuki Machida (inconsistent something horrible, though), Shibutanis and Takahashi/Tran. It's really difficult to predict anything with juniors, though - so many of them do not fulfill their potential because of injuries, growth spurts, or both.
I think Yukiko Fujisawa is going to be the next star from Japan after Mao Asada. The girl is simply awesome! Murakami is wonderful too, but her jumps worry me a bit.
I love watching him skate!
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