Can Sotnikova overcome the pressure?

[FlattFan]

Her 3Lz-3T at Skate America should have been downgraded. Her jump technique is really odd. She landed all of her jumps almost always pitched forward. That's why it's impossible to tag the 3T on after the two 2A attempts. Her 3T after the 3Lz was a toe-axel, on top of a cheated landing.
As she fills out more, she will never be able to land the second triple cleanly.

She has the look, but not the technique to carry her forward.

[sillylionlove]

The Olympics are a little less then two years away. Anything can happen!!

[janetfan]

Her 3Lz-3T at Skate America should have been downgraded. Her jump technique is really odd. She landed all of her jumps almost always pitched forward. That's why it's impossible to tag the 3T on after the two 2A attempts. Her 3T after the 3Lz was a toe-axel, on top of a cheated landing.
As she fills out more, she will never be able to land the second triple cleanly.

She has the look, but not the technique to carry her forward.

Surely you jest?

Adelina is a future champion......your favorite is better off in school.

[drivingmissdaisy]

As she fills out more, she will never be able to land the second triple cleanly.

Flatt was filled out and was able to do 3/3s.

[seniorita]

I consider her even though she gets on almost every podium as failures, considering her skating ability, you would know that had she made not all those silly mistakes, she would not be behind all those other skaters, yes Adelina is very talented but its her being inconsistent that is a letdown for me .

Concidering her skating potential yes, but part also of the athlete's abilities is to learn to compete and bring the practice into competition which will come with time as she is very young.

[gmyers]

Concidering her skating potential yes, but part also of the athlete's abilities is to learn to compete and bring the practice into competition which will come with time as she is very young.

But people now are agreeing and maybe because of how she is dealing with her age maybe she'll be good in her 20's -post Sochi maybe post peyongheng.

[drivingmissdaisy]

But people now are agreeing and maybe because of how she is dealing with her age maybe she'll be good in her 20's -post Sochi maybe post peyongheng.

Oh give me a break. She is good now. The 3Z-3T is still pretty rare and she landed a beautiful one that got +GOE. She was a brain fart away from winning the silver medal and was beaten by two error-free performances. At SA she landed 2 3-3's, every triple except the axel, and high level spins. She is right on the cusp of doing great things.

[pangtongfan]

Lots of fans said Mao or Yuna could have won the Torino Olympics - but look what happened the following season. They were both beaten at Worlds by Miki.

Miki with her performances from the 2007 Worlds would have also easily won the Torino Olympics, and Mao with a major mistake in the short and several mistakes in the long still nearly won those same Worlds herself. So I dont see what this shows to be honest.

[sky_fly20]

Oh give me a break. She is good now. The 3Z-3T is still pretty rare and she landed a beautiful one that got +GOE. She was a brain fart away from winning the silver medal and was beaten by two error-free performances. At SA she landed 2 3-3's, every triple except the axel, and high level spins. She is right on the cusp of doing great things.

Adelina Sotnikova = Maria Butyrskaya 2.0, Adelina will peak in her 25-28+ years of age
lovely skaters who Cannot skate 2 clean programs , sad but very true indeed

[tulosai]

Oh give me a break. She is good now. The 3Z-3T is still pretty rare and she landed a beautiful one that got +GOE. She was a brain fart away from winning the silver medal and was beaten by two error-free performances. At SA she landed 2 3-3's, every triple except the axel, and high level spins. She is right on the cusp of doing great things.

People talk like Adelina is getting scores like Rachael. I know, I know, her potential, her potential, how tragic that she only medals at every event she enters instead of winning gold. Butyrskaya would have killed to have had Adelina's success at Adelina's age.

I have no idea where the idea that Adelina will peak when she is 25 is coming from.

It is quite undeniable that she hasn't had a truly clean program in a long while. Whether that is nerves/psychological, puberty, some combination of the two, or something else altogether is anyone's guess. However, even a sloppy, sloppy Adelina is amply rewarded by the judges. People need to give her (and sane skating fans everywhere) a break like dirvingmissdaisy says.

[pangtongfan]

Adelina Sotnikova = Maria Butyrskaya 2.0, Adelina will peak in her 25-28+ years of age
lovely skaters who Cannot skate 2 clean programs , sad but very true indeed

I dont agree with the Maria comparision. Maria was an extremely mediocre skater who overachieved through incredible determination and mental toughness, and capatilized on a really soft transition year where all the old gaurd or curent contenders were gone or not at those Worlds apart from Michelle Kwan, and the next geneation contenders were either not there yet or competing at only 13 and obviously not contending yet (Hughes), to win a shock World title. Maria spent her whole career in the shadows of Kwan, Chen, Lipinski, Slutskaya, even below Markova in Russia until Markova's career went down the tubes, Hughes, Bonaly, Baiul, Cohen, basically anyone more talented than her with even moderate consistency. Sotnikova is a huge talent who people think have the potential to dominate in a way nobody would have ever come within kilometres of suggesting Maria could, that is why people are so frusterated with her. Maria is a skater who was never supposed to come higher than 8th at Worlds who won 3 world medals, a World title, and was a missed triple salchow (either one, there were two of them) away from a 2nd straight World title, and a doubled triple toe away from an Olympic medal in 98. The two are totally different cases.

[FlattFan]

Flatt was filled out and was able to do 3/3s.

Different people can do different things at different weight.
Your logic is like, Einstein can do calculus, even at 70 years old. How come grandpa next door can't even add?

Sonikova were able to rotate her triples back in the day, but as soon as she grows a bit, she can't do a lot of her previous 3x3s. If she fills out even more, she's done with 3x3. What's so hard to understand?

[Mrs. P]

After seeing her live this weekend, I can see why Adelina scores well. She has great speed, good ice coverage and she skates big. I actually like her FS. I think it's a good challenge for her to try something non-balletic and she seemed to have fun out there, which is a good thing.

She is going through a major growth spurt, and my husband noted that she didn't seem quite confident in her body. So the fact she's still winning medals while she's going through this major growing out period is impressive.

[babayaga]

I consider her even though she gets on almost every podium as failures, considering her skating ability, you would know that had she made not all those silly mistakes, she would not be behind all those other skaters, yes Adelina is very talented but its her being inconsistent that is a letdown for me .

Adelina is not done growing yet. Do you remember what was Gao skating like in the past seasons? Now look at her Adelina is going through a tough period as well, it is not a surprise she is inconsistent, and she is still a contender. This shows potential. Once her body stops changing so much she will be more confident and therefore, more consistent. I have no doubt about that.

[drivingmissdaisy]

Different people can do different things at different weight.
Your logic is like, Einstein can do calculus, even at 70 years old. How come grandpa next door can't even add?

Sonikova were able to rotate her triples back in the day, but as soon as she grows a bit, she can't do a lot of her previous 3x3s. If she fills out even more, she's done with 3x3. What's so hard to understand?

I disagree. She can do a 3Z-3T. If she filled out more she could probably still do a 3T-3T. Many women who can do a 3T-3T cannot do the lutz combination. I don't think she would fill out much more though because she has the body of a fit young woman now.