Gao is not the next big thing. Her awkward 3t-3t finally caught up to her. And to think some people thought she should/could go to the Olympics this year is totally hilarious. Gao? Really? Gao who couldn't make the final group of JUNIOR worlds?
Gao is not the next big thing. Her awkward 3t-3t finally caught up to her. And to think some people thought she should/could go to the Olympics this year is totally hilarious. Gao? Really? Gao who couldn't make the final group of JUNIOR worlds?
In the case of Christina Gao, maybe. She's had international experience at the Junior level, including the JGPF. In Agnes Zawadzki, I'm not as shocked about her placement. Her successes, while great, have been pretty much all on the US National stage. Not being used to such a major competition could partly explain the situation. And then again, she's 8th after the SP. Not a bad placement for a first major ISU Championship.Originally Posted by Spun Silver
Thanks for the updates. Anything can happen here. Agnes Zawadski is a strong LP skater. I find in Jr. competition the possibility of moving up and medaling happens much more than in Sr. competition. Good luck to the ladies.
Last edited by demarinis5; 03-12-2010 at 01:58 PM.
Top 3
Anna OVCHAROVA is 90+
Murakami long program SB is 104+
Polina AGAFONOVA is 76+
Murakami has the gold in the bag. The other girls simply can't catch up.
Well, barring a meltdown by Murakami and/or a SOHL from Anna Ovcharova. Because some skaters in other disciplines seem to be greatly improving on their PB scores, while others seem to be doing worse.
And about Gao's score: It's actually only 3 points behind her Season's Best (excluding any National level scores).
Why is it a wakeup call that they placed behind those two other ladies? The US girls had errors, and their scores/placements reflect that. They are allowed to make mistakes, and mistakes in a SP are usually especially costly. I'm definitely not one to buy into the hype of Junior skaters, but some people practically want to write skaters off based on one short program of one junior competition.
Ovcharova's previous season's best for the short was 5 points below her score today. The stats are good for a general idea of the skater and his/her abilities, but especially in Jrs, they don't mean anything.
It's the junior worlds. Note the top skaters at some point or another WON Junior worlds. You just don't get very far without the Junior world title. If they can't handle junior worlds, they will just become an also-ran at the senior level.Why is it a wakeup call that they placed behind those two other ladies? The US girls had errors, and their scores/placements reflect that. They are allowed to make mistakes, and mistakes in a SP are usually especially costly. I'm definitely not one to buy into the hype of Junior skaters, but some people practically want to write skaters off based on one short program of one junior competition.
Well, it gives a very good idea of what to expect especially when everyone is doing their best. If they give a good idea, they mean something. So if you have money betting, you'd bet against Murakami given those stats?
Joshi Helgesson was 4th last year at Jr Worlds, and Kate Charbonneau had a good first season on the JGP circuit, with a silver to show for her efforts. Wake-up call? It shouldn't be! This year the ladies seem to have more depth and seem generally more competitive. 4th and 10th place are only about 4 pts apart. That's not a large margin at all.
I think winning the junior world title is not so indicative of a skater's success as a senior, but doing well at the event is important. It shows that the skater can handle pressure at an early age, which is very important to getting far in one's career. But it's too early to judge Christina based on her SP. Let's see how she does in her LP.
Anna Ovcharova's FS score at Russian Junior nationals was 109.46 and Polina Agafonova's was 108.19. Granted, those are nationals scores, but Agnes' LP score at US nationals was 108.73 and Kanako's LP score at Japanese Junior nationals this year was 106.89 so I wouldn't say that Murakami definitely has it in the bag, though I do think she will win. She does flutz though while Anna and Polina A don't, and Polina A will attempt 3-3. The scoring potential for the top 9 in the FS is actually pretty comparable, though I have a hunch Joshi, Kate, and Kiri will likely get lower scores than the others just because they have less technical difficulty in their programs.
I do not know this is a wake up call for anyone just yet,
but now there is a realistic possiblity we may not see any U.S. girls will medal here.
When was the last time that happened?
I agree, Christina's strength is the LP, it never has been the SP. She is also a late bloomer, she really was just a very mediocre skater until this season when she showed a lot of promise. She has also grown a lot since last year, which I think is also the reason for Polina Shelepen's recent struggles. I imagine it must be hard to compete and live up to all these high expectations when a lot of girls this age are growing and changing so fast. One year can make a difference, I mean remember what Mirai was like last year? Christina's scores on the junior circuit have been better than Mirai's scores on the senior circuit last year and now Mirai has just come off a 4th place finish at her first Olympics and is poised to medal at worlds.
I meant that they didn't mean anything in terms of results. I wouldn't bet against Murakami but I wouldn't bet on her either. Anyone betting on any Jr competition should be prepared for the worst. Jr competitors can often be all over the map in terms of results and often underperform. Since Anna Ovcharova, who is Murakami's most direct competition at this point, is in her first season of the JGP and has has tremendous improvement over this season alone, according to reports, then I think it wouold be unwise to discount her potential based on one stat from the ISU.
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