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Apparently, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva has withdrawn from the World Junior Championships due to tiredness.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.
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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