- Joined
- Nov 12, 2009
I think it's not so much about the age, but judging objectively despite age. For example, Anna could have landed all her jumps cleanly and I bet people still would have complained and said she was gawky and ungainly. But is this really about her skating, or that she has a very thin and muscular body type and is currently all arms and legs? To me, her skating is not awkward, some things look awkward because she is clearly in the middle of her growing years and everything doesn't match up yet, but she's 14, that's to be expected, should she be penilized for that? In my mind that would be silly, this is a junior event, she is not old enough to compete in the senior worlds, neither are Julia or Elena. In terms of basics, I think Cesario and Pogorilaya are fairly comparable. I don't think there is an issue for judges rewarding a 14 year old skater for attempting ambitious content and attacking her programs even if the execution isn't perfectly clean - it's risk versus reward, Anna went for tough content and she landed it well enough that it paid off. Given this is a junior event, I think it is okay she beats a 19 year old who comes out and skates a polished program with more conservative content. The judges aren't holding down Samantha honestly, they let her win the SP with a 3lo-2t combo that was URed after all. People may not remember, but back in 2010 Samantha competed at US Nationals and got a partial standing ovation for a seemingly clean FS which went on to score 74 points because of URed jumps. The calls are not that surprising. And giving her 9 points more in PCS than Pogorilaya is not the right call either because Anna getting low 6s for PCS is quite on target and it would be wrong for the judges to knock those marks way down because she's young and at a awkward stage in her development and mid 6s are fine for Samantha. I think the fact that Sam won the SP and got the 2nd highest PCS in the FS speaks to the fact that the judges DO appreciate her mature and polished skating and are willing to reward that even at a Junior World championship, she lost a medal because of TES. That's all it comes down to.