Julia Lipnitskaia: One of the rising queens of Skating!

[Orange Cat]

There are not many skaters whose appeal is truly without boarders. Stephane Lambiel, maybe.

I'd say Takahashi is reaching that status

Re: Sasha- gosh no, she's not forgotten! I'm friends with a few national level ladies figure skaters in Australia and all of them cite Sasha as one of their favourite skaters (to watch, at least).

Going back to Julia- she has a truckload of potential and I've enjoyed watching her this season. Hopefully the puberty monster is kind to her!! I just wish her choreographer could be a bit more subtle. She could take a leaf out of Sasha's book in terms of finding choreography that highlights flexibility without requiring her to pull her skate over her head every 30 seconds or so. It's not that hard to forget uber-bendiness...

[demarinis5]

^ Hi Orange Cat and Welcome to the forum!

I agree with your entire post.

[dorispulaski]

Orange Cat, Welcome to Golden Skate. May you post long and often.

[Dragonlady]

All I could think of watching Lipnitskaia skate was "Look at her. No body issues whatsoever" Everything was smooth, easy and in control which was in direct contrast to Sotnikova who struggled to manage her new body.

I'm loving all of the Russian super babies and I hope the puberty monster is kind to her.

As for all of this discussion of Sasha, a lot of skaters LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her. But the trend in flexibility has little to nothing to do with Sasha. It's because the ISU chose to emphasize flexibility in the CoP and gave an automatic level boost for any spiral, spin or lift done in a Beilman or extreme split position. Since then, everyone has worked on and developed their flexibility to the nth degree.

[pangtongfan]

Lipnitskaia will become the best female skater ever. She will win every Olympic and World gold 2014-2018 virtually uncontested. Nobody can compete with her considering the level she is already at at 13.

[pangtongfan]

It only makes sense that Americans hold Sasha in greater fondness than do people around the world. The same is true of Michelle Kwan and Dorothy Hamill.

Kwan, Hamill, and especialy Janet Lynn are adored around the World even today.

[pangtongfan]

Since when has Kwan been a bigger draw than Cohen in Europe? That is the exact opposite of the general consensus

LOL what exact consensus. Look at the thunderous ovations Kwan received for her 1997 Worlds LP, 2000 and 2004 Worlds LPs in Europe. Cohen has never received anything near that. I have never seen Cohen receive a major ovation from any European crowd, except perhaps to some degree her 2004 Worlds SP and only since it was spectacular.

As for whether Sasha has been forgetten, do I even have to mention the heated discussion on every board that Cohen generated when she decided to come back for Nationals in 2010 after being absent from competition for almost 4 years?

Mostly by American posters, and given their dire state of womens skating at the time it is totally understandable. Had Kwan been coming back too, Sasha would have been background news even to American fans, as she always was when Kwan was around. Had Nagasu gotten her act together like she did at the 2010 Games sooner, had Wagner been skating as she finally is now, or someone like Gold been coming up then, or someone far more famous like Tonya Harding or Nancy Kerrigan been making a whacked out comeback for whatever reason, it also would have sparked minor interest at best. Given that the favorites for the U.S Olympic team and title were Flatt, a then so Wagner, and headcase Czisny, of course Sasha return would be huge news and interest to Americans, she would have to really suck for it not to have been.

[fairly4]

i think julia shows great poise and control at a young age, however she hasn't went through puberty yet, i will wait and she how she skates through it .

[Mathman]

Cohen has never received anything near that. I have never seen Cohen receive a major ovation from any European crowd, except perhaps to some degree her 2004 Worlds SP and only since it was spectacular.

Those Europeans, they do like a spectacular performance.

But I like her anyway.

As they say, she was only a moonshiner's daughter, but I loved her still.

[macy]

Lipnitskaia will become the best female skater ever. She will win every Olympic and World gold 2014-2018 virtually uncontested. Nobody can compete with her considering the level she is already at at 13.

it's a bit early to say that...the girl's only 13 and the puberty monster hasn't come after her quite yet. a lot of things can happen in the next few years. i'm not saying what you said isn't possible, i just think it's too soon to speak. if puberty doesn't hit her too hard i do think she will have a lot of success.

[AmuChan363]

Lipnitskaia will become the best female skater ever. She will win every Olympic and World gold 2014-2018 virtually uncontested. Nobody can compete with her considering the level she is already at at 13.

Thats what they said about Caroline Zhang/Mirai Nagasu back in 2007. Look what happened to them, even though they bounced back. Neither have won a world title (Caroline has yet to earn a trip to worlds) and Mirai did place fourth at the olympics (when Caroline didn't even make the top 10 at nationals), Mirai is a bit of a headcase atm, and Caroline is still flutzing and her technique isn't 100% solid yet, but miles and miles better than what it was before, but still.

Then again, she could be a Tara Lipinski, small but wins big. Or a Michelle, who never got olympic gold but for a while was unbeatable. We'll have to see in the coming years.

[pangtongfan]

Thats what they said about Caroline Zhang/Mirai Nagasu back in 2007. Look what happened to them, even though they bounced back. Neither have won a world title (Caroline has yet to earn a trip to worlds) and Mirai did place fourth at the olympics (when Caroline didn't even make the top 10 at nationals), Mirai is a bit of a headcase atm, and Caroline is still flutzing and her technique isn't 100% solid yet, but miles and miles better than what it was before, but still.

Then again, she could be a Tara Lipinski, small but wins big. Or a Michelle, who never got olympic gold but for a while was unbeatable. We'll have to see in the coming years.

Speak for yourself. I NEVER felt even close to that way about Zhang. Her skating was full of huge holes even when she was dominating juniors. The judges turned a blind eye to those for a long while due to hype and the cuteness factor, plus her flashy strengths. Nagasu had promise, I would have guessed her to achieve more than she had, but she didnt strike me as an all time great either. With Kim and Asada on the scene already I would guessed neither to ever win a major title, let alone dominate, maybe Nagasu winning one if she hung on long enough after Asada and Kim were gone.

I think she will be a combination of a Tara Lipinski (teenage phenom, untouchable phenom in early year, youngest ever records) and Michelle Kwan (super longevity, consistency and wins streched over long time), in addition to having far more invincability than both.

[Vash01]

Lipnitskaia will become the best female skater ever. She will win every Olympic and World gold 2014-2018 virtually uncontested. Nobody can compete with her considering the level she is already at at 13.

You have already jinxed her- LOL.

It's too early to make those predictions. Her body is going to change and it could really affect her skating negatively. I am hoping that she survives the growth spurt and continues to improve to become a great skater, but I would not make any predictions right now.

[pangtongfan]

My predictions are virtually always right, I can bring up countless examples that prove this, thus since I have predicted it, it is 95% likely to happen. The end.

[hurrah]

Since the inception of CoP, tall skaters who can power skate and jump big tend to do well. Shizuka is 166cm, Yuna is 164cm, Mao is around 165cm (maybe taller), Carolina Kostner is 169cm. That's why I think that in the end, it will be the taller Russian babes who will do better at Olympics.

(Miki at 162cm would be considered small in this bunch. Laura Lepisto is 164cm.)