Yu-na Kim certainly hit it off the gate in 2006-2007 when she won GPF and finished first at the SP during Worlds that season. And nobody thought there was anything wrong with that. Nobody was questioning Elene G. when she was in the final group at the 2006 Olympics. They were both 16, just like Osmond (or close to it at least).
at this stage of her development, her skating is still young and coltish, in need of further refinement, much like the young sarah hughes or kimmie meissner. that can of course be improved over time. the athletic ability is already there but the landings, again, need better line and stretch. no one can predict what's going to happen on the ice, but i'd say she's a good top 12 skater who will surely win canadian nationals against the likes of lacoste.
Really? I thought her triple-triple was astonishing - the steps leading into it, the height she gets, the control on the landing (she high kicks out of it). Both programs are so jampacked with transitions and choreography that the sheer fact that she can skate them clean is pretty remarkable. The way she's able to quickly center a spin and not lose momentum as she changes position (check out her first program spin from the SC SP) is better than World Class skaters like Suzuki, I'd argue. That stated, if she won worlds, she'd probably be the champion with the worst skating skills in decades. She's not refined whatsoever.
Last edited by dorispulaski; 12-15-2012 at 05:25 AM. Reason: remove moderated quotation
Yuna Kim was a World Junior champion and before that was a silver medalist. What was Osmond's last Junior result? I think even Elene Gedevanishvili had a better Junior result than Osmond did. Nobody questioning Elene G because no one was hyping her to win the gold. And as predicted, Elene fell off the standing to 10 after the long.
Yes, her landings bug me a lot.
Last edited by Mrs. P; 12-14-2012 at 08:08 PM.
Zijun Li from China at age of 16 landed 2 types of 3+3(3t+3t, 3f+3t) at the NHK with similar scores(176). How many of 'fans' even know this? Osmond is just another desperately manufactured 'Canadian star' with highly inflated pcs. World champion? Really? I'm sure her pcs will go up further at 2013 worlds.
Last edited by suzukifan27; 12-14-2012 at 07:54 PM.
i wouldn't necessarily say she's a desperately manufactured canadian star, but i do think given the state of women's skating there with rochette's absence, it's easy to see why a talented skater who can land more than 2-3 triples a skate is exciting. again, only time will tell.
I wrote a response and deleted it because I suddenly realized you were talking about SC, not the challenge last week. So I dug out the footage, watched it and was surprised to see that she actually did OK with her catch foot at SC. Her spin was better as you described and her 3-3 looked better as well. No wow effect for me though. She jumped but I could feel the gravity, especially the second triple (Nothing wrong with it, just not superb). And I dug out the judges score sheet and I think they agreed with me: Good but not outstanding.
Why would Canada always want to 'manufacture' a top-tier lady if they don't have one? She barely cracked top 10 at last year's Jr. worlds with mediocre pcs. This year she suddently won a Sr. GP event in Canada with pcs matching world medalists. Some Canadians are already starting the propaganda campaign in order to 'crown' her. It seems to me any Canadian lady who can land 5 triples in a LP is automatically considered a world-class skater while talented ladies from smaller federations always get the short end of the stick.
Osmond's performances during Juniors may have been affected by her going through puberty. Better for it to happen in Juniors than after moving into Seniors (like some of the Russian girls). According to interviews, she also had to deal with injuries...broken ankle, sprained the same ankle, hip and back problems. She said everything began to come together in the past year, which happens to corresponds with her move into seniors. I am sure hard work was also involved in her sudden improvements since Juniors.
I am one who firmly believes that politics plays a significant role in this sport. That having been said, I have never seen anything close to what it would take to get Osmond the gold. The question should be whether there's a chance she could get bronze.
I don't think she's in the running for gold, but it's good to see a promising Canadian lady, and I'm hopeful that she will turn out to possess stability and remain a contender. I think that's enough burden to put on her shoulders.
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