The Novice Events (as seen on computer) | Page 2 | Golden Skate

The Novice Events (as seen on computer)

Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
Well, take a look at Canada's Junior podium picture!

Egads, my stars, what is this world coming! :eek: :confused2: *Nadine faints & passes out* :biggrin:

All levity aside, these kids remind me of Sonja Henie, and when I wrote those words the other day I couldn't help thinking of what Sonja said about her first Olympics at age 11 ~ all the other competitors, et al, were saying "what is this, a kindergarten". I now understand what they felt, as well as Sonja to some degree, as she said the experience was invaluable.

Who knows what their future holds, but for now I say let the kids have their moment ~ Congratulations! :cool:
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Alas, there was Nathan Chen, 11 yrs. old & built like he's 5 yrs. old. And that's the honest to God truth. He did equally GREAT, but seriously he's not only 4/5 years younger than the young men here, but also he's about 3'8" tall & weighs about 40 pounds, no wonder he can do all those pretzel circus tricks. The men versus the child were approximately 2 feet taller than him, and weighed about 2 times more as well.

Chen is four foot five. His "circus tricks" included two triple Lutzes, a triple flip, a triple loop, and triple Salchow and a triple toe loop. You may like the the 14 year old "men" better, but this is a competition, may the best man win. :yes:
 

Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
Oops, looks like I hit a nerve. To clarify I'm talking about his ability to transform himself into a human pretzel when it comes to the spins, but I think you knew that already. And the "young men" were ages 15 & 16, the majority IIRC, with maybe a 17 yr. old thrown in? Nathan Chen is the youngest.

He actually reminds me of Tara Lipinski, you know that other young American phenom whom set the world on fire at such a young age, eventually winning the Olympic Gold Medal in 1998, all at 15 yrs. of age. The youngest Olympic Gold Medalist in history. If Nathan Chen keeps it up the possibilities are endless, mayhap another Olympic Gold Medalist at 15 yrs. of age (that's if he's eligible)? ;)
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Oops, looks like I hit a nerve. To clarify I'm talking about his ability to transform himself into a human pretzel when it comes to the spins, but I think you knew that already. And the "young men" were ages 15 & 16, the majority IIRC, with maybe a 17 yr. old thrown in? Nathan Chen is the youngest.

He actually reminds me of Tara Lipinski, you know that other young American phenom whom set the world on fire at such a young age, eventually winning the Olympic Gold Medal in 1998, all at 15 yrs. of age. The youngest Olympic Gold Medalist in history. If Nathan Chen keeps it up the possibilities are endless, mayhap another Olympic Gold Medalist at 15 yrs. of age (that's if he's eligible)? ;)

Unfortunately, Nathan Chen's birthday is May 5, 1999. That means he will not turn 15 until May 5, 2014, making him not eligible for Sochi.

Nam Nguyen, his Canadian counterpart, is one year older -- May 20, 1998 -- so he would be able to compete in the Olympics in 2014. He would be 15 at the Olympics. He would also have a shot at breaking Dick Button's record as the youngest men's olympic champion (18). Wouldn't it be something if Nguyen AND Chan ended up on the podium. It's a totally wild thought!

So yeah the real Olympic showdown will probably be in 2018 when Chen is 18 and Nguyen is 19. While Chen would be the same age as Button if he won the Olympic Gold, he wouldn't break the record because his birthday is in May and Dick's is in July.
 
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Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
Yeah, Mrs. P., anything is possible. This actually reminds me of Mao & Yuna in terms of rivalry, phenoms at such a young age, which wasn't just fantasy either, as each made it through puberty just fine and continued their rivarly into adulthood. And I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen with these two. :)

And who knows, Canada may have two men on the Olympic podium in Sochi ~ Chan & Nguyen ~ one being the youngest Olympic Mens Champion in history to tie Tara Lipinski as the youngest Olympic Womens Champion. ;)
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
And who knows, Canada may have two men on the Olympic podium in Sochi ~ Chan & Nguyen ~ one being the youngest Olympic Mens Champion in history to tie Tara Lipinski as the youngest Olympic Womens Champion. ;)

I don't see Nam winning over Patrick by 2014. 23 is in the men's peak years while a 15 year old boy, unlike girls, still has a lot of growing to do, physically and technically. Even with all the skills, he will not have the full power of a man. For Nam to have a chance of beating Dick's record, Patrick would have to not compete in 2014. And then there are all these other talented young men coming up as well. I think a "man" has to be at least 17 to have a chance of winning an OGM, depending on the field. Under COP all skills are taken into consideration so being exceptionally good in one area of skating is not enough. It does take time to develop into an all round skater, whatever the order of skills acquired.

Mentally, to compete well in the epitome of all competitions, one needs to be young enough to not be bogged down in the mind or old and experienced enough to deal with extraordinary pressures. While it's not uncommon to have young female phenoms in the first category, men generally need to acquire mental strength as they develop and peak later.

Interesting we are looking to the Novice for the future. (Nam is not Junior eligible internationally though he plans to join the Canadian Senior next year. He was checking out the atmostphere at Seniors this year as preparation!)
 

Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
I really want to watch all the Novice & Junior programs, but right now I just don't have the time, yet what I have seen thus far has definitely whetted my appetite and I definitely will make time to watch them when I get the chance. :)

:yay:GOOOOOOO USA!!!!!!!!!:agree:
 

katymay

Medalist
Joined
Mar 7, 2006


Thank you for posting-what fun to watch! Judging by one Youtube comment already posted , the jealousy monster has already reared its ugly head. The more things change in this sport, the more they stay the same. This sport requires such a giant family sacrifice, that perhaps it is natural that bad feelings erupt when another kid is a prodigy. And whatever happens in the future for Nathan Chen, I can't believe there has ever been another 11 year old this spectacular. (Midori Ito had the jumps, but not sure the rest was in place at this age.)
 

A.H.Black

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
Concerning Nathan Chen. I can see the difference between last year and this year - between 10 and 11.

- He's a little bit stronger.
- He has a bit better ice coverage.
- He said he was pleased to get 2 points more in component marks over last year. I can see every bit of that improvement in his presentation.
- He is a little less wooden even in Kiss and Cry.


I hope Nathan stays in skating and becomes a great champion. He comes from a high achieving family and has many interests - including ballet as well as gymnastics, hockey and the piano. Who knows what the future will bring. I am trying to enjoy his skating to the fullest now.
 

Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
I'm exhausted, seriously, I just sat through the Novice Mens FS, Novice Pairs SP, and Novice Pairs LP. It was GREAT though, but that's it I can't take anymore, will try to watch the Juniors tomorrow. :)

Here are some of my impressions:

Jack Newberry's coach looks just like him, is that his dad? (;^)

Lukas Kaugars continues to impress me with how he skates, or more specifically I'm astounded by the fact that he's built like Rockne Brubaker but skates like he's a ballerino! Actually in all honesty he reminds me of 2-time Olympic Gold Medalist Artur Dmitriev in body, build, and the way he skates. Lol, he even skated to the same piece of music that Artur & Natalia skated to in 1994 ~ Rachmaninov! :thumbsup: He's passionate, jumps exactly in time with the music, has that John Curry flair, is elegant, and his inside-outside spread eagle is divine, like buttah. (;^) Anyhow, I still say his future is in PAIRS! :cool:

Jordan Moeller also skated to Rachmaninov, and it was interesting to see the contrasting style of him versus Lukas Kaugars. They're both GREAT, just different is all. Jordan looks & skates like a young Johnny Weir of yesteryear, whereas Lukas is like Artur Dmitriev on skates. :)^)

And of course Nathan Chen did good, young prodigy is right, I just have to get used to seeing a very young-looking 11 yr. old child surrounded by young men in their mid-teens. :)^)

Pairs is what I really enjoyed this evening!

I loooooooooove the young pair team of Audrey Goldberg (14 yrs. old) & Joseph Dolkiewicz (18 yrs. old), especially their SP to "The Race"! Also I enjoyed the first half of their FS to "Chicago", but it petered out at the end. They need more speed & power in their skating. But that aside, they remind me of a young G&G, especially during their star lift. And she honestly looks exactly like Sasha Cohen at that age (could be identical twins!). (8^O I always wished Sasha had gone into pairs, now I know what she would have looked like. :)^D

Chelsea Liu (11 yrs. old) & her partner Devin Perini (17 yrs. old) remind me of Audrey & Joseph in that the girl is tiny whereas the guy is all grown up, "gorilla & flea" effect, especially these two! YIKES! But that aside, they skated beautifully. I especially enjoyed their "Can Can" number. :)^) I honestly foresee a rivalry between these two pairs because the girl in each pair resembles a famous singles skater ~ Audrey = Sasha Cohen ~ and Chelsea = Naomi Nari Nam. And how can you forget that rivalry wherein each was coached by John Nicks...

Alexandra Shaughnessy (18 yrs. old) & James Morgan (19) have beautiful long classic lines, lovely to watch. :)^)

But it was Madeline Aaron & Max Settlage that took the prize, and deservedly so!!!! *two thumbs way up!* They are fast, powerful, skate with confidence & conviction, and are way ahead of everybody else imho. I especially loved the contrast between their two numbers ~ the first was skated exquisitely to the strains of "Claire de Lune" ~ whereas the second was magnificently skated to "The Nutcracker". Perfect perfect vehicle for these two! BRAVO!!!!! :cool:
 

jnoble82

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 12, 2010
Jordan Moeller also skated to Rachmaninov, and it was interesting to see the contrasting style of him versus Lukas Kaugars. They're both GREAT, just different is all. Jordan looks & skates like a young Johnny Weir of yesteryear, whereas Lukas is like Artur Dmitriev on skates. :)^)

I can see the Johnny Weir in Jordan now that people have started saying that but I still say he has a bit of Jeremy Abbott in him too which could be wonderful for Jordan over the years. I saw an interview of Jordan and he is so adorable and you can here his love for skating in his voice. His mom is pretty funny too. Regardless of who he reminds us of now, I hope he makes his own name for himself in the future. He is definitely one to watch. (as is most of the novice podium and juniors for that matter)
 
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