The "Future" of Figure Skating - 2014 Podium Threats (Men's)

[snowflake]

Disregarding all the bs that has come from these Olympics (I do not only mean FS here; a death of an athlete, Petra Majdic breaking her ribs while plunging down the hill to a gully due to absolutely no safety borders beside the road etc) I truly hope to see some of the athletes succeed in Sochi and for the Sochi games to be better arranged. Although I wouldn't bet on it. Russia does have it's disturbing tendencies when it comes to construction - not a rule but there are some bad experiences from the past.

There are so many new and promising names really.
Brezina is an athlete of amazing technique. As for his jumps... wow The height is amazing and the cleanness of his 3A is mind-boggling. Yes, I am a fan of his, I've got to admit. His skating doesn't lack passion but he has to and definitely will work on the choreographic aspect. As well as footwork. What a great guy.

Ten. Well Ten is something of a sort of young miracle if everything goes well for him. Considering his age I'd say he has all the possibilities of becoming at least two time olympic medalist if not more. I don't know how the consistency part will work out for him but time will tell obviously. Flexibility is of course great and all but there are many many details he needs to work on.

Amodio is a born artist. His performance impressed me the most these games. I'm watching his skate again and again and what amazes me is that not only is his performance great but he is capable of jumping a quad for example. He knows how to work the crowd and enjoys it. Big hopes on this frenchman.

Borodulin left a positive impression. After getting used to a relatively weak field of russian future figure skating he did appear as a small beacon of hope.


In conclusion what I really really don't want to happen is for these young and promising athletes to take up ´the "neat and clean choreographically superb but technically average road." They are all capable of much more and it would only benefit figure skating as a sport if the new generation would continue to improve the side of skating that cannot be judged subjectively.

I hope they will prove themselves to be remarkable athletes for they sure as hell seem to have what it takes.

Good speculations!

Actually all named skaters in this thread are interesting for 2014.
Some not mentioned are the three russian G-boys; Grigoriev, Gorshkov and Gachinski. Also Artur Jr Dimitriev. Sweden's Schultheiss will be a contender, but I think Majorov will beat him. Sweden will have at least two men qualified in 2014

And who knows which guys will pop up from nowhere. Makes me already excited to think about it. Men's FS definitely has a future with quads and all

[yangjie]

How old will that tiny little Japanese guy be in 2014? (Sorry, don't remember his name. I think he might be a junior by now.)

If he's not cooked yet, then I'm calling it for Chan, Fernandez and Amodio!

That is, if Chan agrees to let his feet do the talking. Otherwise, everybody move up a notch and Oda for Bronze.

Oh wait, I forgot about Armin. If he continues he could be in the mix.

you mean Yuzuru Hanyu? he is now 15.

[Wicked]

I want to see an epic battle between Patrick, Armin, and Florent. I won't care who wins.

[bethissoawesome]

you mean Yuzuru Hanyu? he is now 15.

Hanyu is TALENTED... but as for little, not quite. He is the tallest Japanese Mens skater already at 15 (5'7")! If Oda sticks around... I'd expect the 2014 Sochi team to be Oda, Kazuka and Hanyu... all capable of medaling.

[silverlake22]

Hanyu is TALENTED... but as for little, not quite. He is the tallest Japanese Mens skater already at 15 (5'7")! If Oda sticks around... I'd expect the 2014 Sochi team to be Oda, Kazuka and Hanyu... all capable of medaling.

5'7" isn't exactly big for a guy, in fact, it's pretty small. He can still be called little. Chan is 5'7" and he looks very little

[blue_idealist]

I hope Chan wins. I can't help it, I'm Canadian and he actually is a good skater, even if he makes annoying comments. I also hope Jeremy Ten from Canada qualifies. I'm following him on Twitter and he's so cute. lol. I'm not sure about him as a podium threat, but anything could happen between now and then. I like most other people already mentioned, except Brezina. He really needs to improve on everything but his jumps.

[Spun Silver]

you mean Yuzuru Hanyu? he is now 15.

No, I mean Shoma Uno. He really is pretty tiny, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_ULhhnIPjw
He's about 12 and skating as novice and junior. We can hope to see him at Sochi, though, right? He's astonishing!

I came across this link ("Daisuke sends a message to Shoma Uno"). So sweet! I love Dai!
http://daisuke-takahashi.megabb.com/...a-uno-t695.htm

[silverlake22]

I hope Chan wins. I can't help it, I'm Canadian and he actually is a good skater, even if he makes annoying comments. I also hope Jeremy Ten from Canada qualifies. I'm following him on Twitter and he's so cute. lol. I'm not sure about him as a podium threat, but anything could happen between now and then. I like most other people already mentioned, except Brezina. He really needs to improve on everything but his jumps.

I agree, but sad you don't like Brezina. His spins are a little slow but beyond that he is great! Czech Buttle , he'll medal at Europeans next year and maybe even win I bet!

[bethissoawesome]

5'7" isn't exactly big for a guy, in fact, it's pretty small. He can still be called little. Chan is 5'7" and he looks very little

Compared to the other skaters... if you look at the Japanese Nationals, the tallest men are 5'7" (Kozuka and Hanyu)... the rest are either smaller or the same height as Mao Asada at 5'4" o_O So, big for a Japanese male skater, considering he could still go through a growth spurt since he is only 15.

[Layfan]

Nathan Chen

[silverlake22]

Compared to the other skaters... if you look at the Japanese Nationals, the tallest men are 5'7" (Kozuka and Hanyu)... the rest are either smaller or the same height as Mao Asada at 5'4" o_O So, big for a Japanese male skater, considering he could still go through a growth spurt since he is only 15.

This is true. Most of them really are about the same size as Mao. Oda is 5'4.5" and 123 pounds...I knew he was small but didn't know he was THAT small. Dai is 5'5" and 130 pounds. I wonder if Joubert is at a disadvantage being more substantially built than most of the top skaters.

[blue_idealist]

When I saw some male figure skaters in person at Skate Canada 2008, I was surprised to see how thin they are. Most of the women are miniscule. Even Jenna McCorkell, who looks like a larger skater on television, was thinner than me. It made me feel fat.. lol.

[aftertherain]

Nathan Chen

You win. =)

His Kung-Fu Panda routine will knock everyone off their feet.

[silverlake22]

When I saw some male figure skaters in person at Skate Canada 2008, I was surprised to see how thin they are. Most of the women are miniscule. Even Jenna McCorkell, who looks like a larger skater on television, was thinner than me. It made me feel fat.. lol.

Yeah they are pretty thin. Jenna is listed as 5'5" and 125 pounds which for someone that muscular is pretty small. Joannie's buff but I saw her live once and she is teeny. Miki is super thin even though she doesn't look it on tv.

[FTnoona]

I am really looking forward to the Japanese team for the next olympics, especially Hanyu. He just looks adorable in his long program. I mean little kid adorable. Hanyu can totally be a podium threat. His 3axel-3toe it beautiful but hopefully he doesn't lose his jumps but since guys don't grow hips like girls do when they go through puberty the chances that happens are slim. Go Yuzuru!!