Should Adelina Sotnikova also withdraw from the World Junior Championships? | Golden Skate

Should Adelina Sotnikova also withdraw from the World Junior Championships?

oksanafan

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 5, 2011
Should Adelina Sotnikova also withdraw from the World Junior Championships?

Apparently, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva has withdrawn from the World Junior Championships due to tiredness. Sensible decision and it will enable her to prepare better for her first full season in seniors next season. Personally, I think Adelina Sotnikova should also withdraw from the World Junior Championships as well. She has had an awful season by her standards and her Free Program at the Youth Olympics was the worst I have even seen her skate, and she should have ended up third behind Zijun Li. It was that bad, and its obvious that Sotnikova is very low on confidence at the moment. She would therefore be much better off putting what has been a poor season behind her and focusing on next season. She has already won everything that there is to win in juniors, so why risk yet another confidence crushing disaster at World Juniors? I can't see her beating Julia Lipnitskaya (who will probably win) or Gracie Gold (who most likely will take silver) in the form she is in at the moment and she will therefore probably be fighting it out for bronze with Polina Shelepen and Zijun Li. Given the success of last season, that is going to do her self confidence no good whatsoever. The injury she had occurred last summer and is unlikely therefore to be the continuing reason for her poor form. That leaves the growth spurt as the mostly likely root cause of her problems. I don't buy in to the idea that she suffers from nerves. Anybody who wins 3 consecutive senior national titles, the World Junior title, and the junior grand prix, clearly does not have a temperament problem. No, it's the growth spurt that is the most likely cause. By the start of the next season, the growth spurt should be behind her and she should have settled into her new body. By withdrawing from World Juniors, she will therefore be giving herself plenty of time to put the problems of this season behind her, overcome her growth spurt, rebuild her self confidence, and lay the platform for a successful next season. She is risking too much by going to World Juniors in the form she is in the moment and if she does end up coming unstuck, it will completely flatten what's left of her self confidence.

Sotnikova has the capacity to be a great skater and to win the next Olympics. This season, she has been knocked back by a growth spurt and this has undermined her self confidence. She needs to take a break, regroup and rebuild, and by the time of the start of next season, the growth spurt and it's associated problems should be behind her. That is the better route to take. What she doesn't need is another confidence sapping disaster at World Juniors which will only undermine her further. Psychologically, that could be very difficult for her to come back from.
 
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sky_fly20

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Joined
Nov 20, 2011
^

I disagree, while Liza is indeed tired, you have to consider Tukt competed a longer season from Japan Open to Youth Olympics
and won 2 GP events and YOG. Sotnikova had a lukewarm season but not totally a disaster, I think what Adelina is trying to prove is she can bounce back.
Sotnikova is struggling from physical ( 2nd growth spurt ) and mental ( confidence) issues this season but she has proven she can bounce back like at the 2012 nationals. this will be another test for her on how to handle huge pressure and this will do more good for her than damage her.

so what if Adelina doesn't win ? she doesn't have anything to lose now, atm
 

koatcue

Medalist
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Country
Russia
I think she should go...Withdrawal won't solve the problem. It's better for her to try once again to regain her confidence.And why do everyone believes that Gracie is to take silver??The girl won ONE international event!
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
She hasn't skated great all season but she has still medaled in every competition, so I don't think her confidence is really that shaken. It is a good chance for her to go and close out a successful season with a win. Particularly with Liza out, she has a great shot to repeat.
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Can anyone link me to the articles/announcement(s) which say Eliza has withdrawn?

Thank you.
 

macy

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
i think she should still go. i wonder if this has crossed her mind at some point though. i think it would be a good chance for a comeback for her. if she skates well she will most likely be in the top 3, which i would be happy with if i were her with julia and gracie there.
 

Mao88

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Can anyone link me to the articles/announcement(s) which say Eliza has withdrawn?

Thank you.

Here is an article in which Mishin explains the reasons behind Liza's withdrawal. He says:-

We decided to concentrate on preparing for the new season, on learning the most difficult elements and not being until the end of the season in the junior’s environment.....There are two ways: you can either prepare for the main event of the life or just prepare for upcoming competitions. So, to prepare for the main event of the life, we must now practice a triple axel, while at the junior level you can win without such complex elements....We work for the future, for the main event – the Olympic Games in Sochi, so we devote the time for creating new programs, finding new choreographic decisions and so on.
 
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mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
And why do everyone believes that Gracie is to take silver??The girl won ONE international event!
Technical content. It's very strong and she's very consistent, especially on her 3+3 combos. Watch her Nationals performances, Sectionals, JGP Estonia, Skate Detroit, etc. She has made no more than 1 mistake in any of her programs.

As to why all of a sudden Sotnikova may be having nerve issues when she's won Nationals, JWs, JGP, etc she has reached an age of "self awareness" which changes how you view yourself - you tend to become self concious and you have to work through it.
 

Mirunna

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
I think the pressure to defend the title will be beneficial for Adelina on the long term, even if she won't succeed. She must learn how to cope with her nerves and this is a perfect opportunity for her to go out there and fight.I still think that if she goes clean she is the best of the pack, Julia included. Imagine what a confidence booster would be for her to win the title back.
 

ImaginaryPogue

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2009
Random thoughts.

1. You don't get over competitive nerves by not competing (so no, she shouldn't)

2. Should she lose to Polina and Julia and Gracie, the federation might prematurely write her off (so yes, she should wd)

3. Should she win, it'll likely give her a much needed boost for next season, which is frightfully important (so no, she shoudn't wd)

4. She's not really a junior skater anymore (so yes, she should)

5. Asada didn't really lose out losing to Kim in 2006 at WJs, so perhaps we're overestimating the impact a loss would have on her politically (so no, she shouldn't wd)

So you decide, for the many among us cannot tell. Both decisions make sense to me.
 

Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
In answer to the title of this thread, n-o.

Why? Besides the possibility of becoming a 2-time World Jr. Champion, more importantly it will give her a chance to end the season on a high note by skating clean. :cool:

Also, it will give her a chance to see how she stacks up against the much-hyped American Golden Girl, Gracie Gold. :thumbsup:


GET IT ON, CAN'T WAIT FOR THE MATCHUP!!!! :rock:
 

CARA

Final Flight
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Oct 16, 2009
Country
United-States
I'm a bit mystified re: the rationale for this thread.

In general, contestants should not withdraw except for a few legitimate and standard reasons, i.e., injuries/illnesses accompanied with physician's verifications, and extenuating circumstances such as family emergency as Mao had to withdraw from the 2011 GPF due to her mother's worsening condition and subsequent death (may she rest in peace :cry:).

I suppose Tuk's withdrawal can be construed as illness if one really stretches the definition of illness (her being tired due to too many competition apparences). Still, Mishin's rationale for taking her out of Junior worlds seems more to do with poor management of his skater on his part, i.e., failure to pace his skater sufficiently.

So, having not sufficiently paced his pupil, he now wants to gain advantage over other skaters by, again, pushing her early & train her for difficult jumps and jump combinations...I suppose if your priority is winning at any cost, you probably would not spend too much time/energy for such trivial matters such as following rules everyone is following, and/or disappointing paying customers who might have already paid to see headliner-worthy skater like Tuk.

So the question to me is, should the Russina #1 skater follow Tuk/Mishin example...? :think:
 

seniorita

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
^ She is not the first or last to withdraw from an event. Many skaters in Russia skip Nationals for various reasons too. Give her a break and Mishin also. It was her first season and she had far more travelling than the rest juniors because she went to GPF on top of Japan Open and her Gp in Canada. Adelina didndt qualify for GpF and didnt go to Japan Open, her one Grand prix of the two was in Moscow, so you dont know what she would do if she had the travel time of Elisaveta. I think Mishin listens to his skaters, if she is tired, and she looked a lot tired after Nationals, emotionally and physically, there is no reason to push her more, especially now she is still growing up.
Maybe they dont want Liza to go back in juniors program and move on, something I remember Ashely had done in 2010 JW, cause she didnt want to lose time training her programs again for juniors.
 

CARA

Final Flight
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Oct 16, 2009
Country
United-States
^ She is not the first or last to withdraw from an event. Many skaters in Russia skip Nationals for various reasons too. Give her a break and Mishin also. It was her first season and she had far more travelling than the rest juniors because she went to GPF on top of Japan Open and her Gp in Canada. Adelina didndt qualify for GpF and didnt go to Japan Open, her one Grand prix of the two was in Moscow, so you dont know what she would do if she had the travel time of Elisaveta. I think Mishin listens to his skaters, if she is tired, and she looked a lot tired after Nationals, emotionally and physically, there is no reason to push her more, especially now she is still growing up.
Maybe they dont want Liza to go back in juniors program and move on, something I remember Ashely had done in 2010 JW, cause she didnt want to lose time training her programs again for juniors.

I have nothing against Tuk. She is still a kid, and it is her parents and coaches' responsibility to look after her wel-fare. That's why how coach(s) pace his/her skaters is crucial. I agree that Tuk looked tired at her nationals, but she was still sent to Youth Olympics event, which occurred after the Russian nationals! Right, she was really listend to.

Also if I understand it correctly, both Kavaguti/Smirnoff and VOLOSOZHAR/Maxim TRANKOV withdrew from Russian nationals due to legitimate medical reasons, didn't they? (Correct me if I'm wrong). Additionally, Tuk's withdraw occurred after her name was already submitted to the Jr. world roster. This is very different from Ashley's 2010 case. Ashley was asked and declined the offer. Consequently USFSA never submitted Ashley's name as a contestant. Notice that Russian federation is doing it again to the Sr. world, too. That is, Makarova's name is already submitted but the federation is in the process of replacing her. Again, who cares about how Makarova feels.

The point I am trying to come across is that if you place winning at any cost as your natinonal priority, there is the danger of justifying that anything is means to an ends, i.e., pushing a young skaker too hard rather than properly pacing her; "discarding the original promise/contract to one skater in the name of pursuing ever greater advantage. In the process if the originally promised skater was devastated, well, that's just too bad, for they are pursuing "greater good."
 

seniorita

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
I m pretty sure RF had a say about Youth Olys and who they would send. As I m sure they are setting their skaters for Sochi, cause if they would really want to send her in Juniors neither Mishin nor Tuktamisheva would be listened. But they have Lipnitskaya there so probably they dont care.
 

CARA

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 16, 2009
Country
United-States
I m pretty sure RF had a say about Youth Olys and who they would send. As I m sure they are setting their skaters for Sochi, cause if they would really want to send her in Juniors neither Mishin nor Tuktamisheva would be listened. But they have Lipnitskaya there so probably they dont care.

I'm afraid what you referred might be plausible. :think:
 

tampro1

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 30, 2005
^

I disagree, while Liza is indeed tired, you have to consider Tukt competed a longer season from Japan Open to Youth Olympics
and won 2 GP events and YOG. Sotnikova had a lukewarm season but not totally a disaster, I think what Adelina is trying to prove is she can bounce back.
Sotnikova is struggling from physical ( 2nd growth spurt ) and mental ( confidence) issues this season but she has proven she can bounce back like at the 2012 nationals. this will be another test for her on how to handle huge pressure and this will do more good for her than damage her.

so what if Adelina doesn't win ? she doesn't have anything to lose now, atm

I agree with Sky_fly20. She doesn't have much to lose. Also, champions risk. They don't duck competition to save their ego. That would damage her confidence in the long run. If she's meant to be a champion, she will tough this out and get through it.
 
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