- Joined
- Aug 21, 2012
Your post has a certain implication. But anyway, 2006 Mao is a prodigy, 2006 Irina is a downhill mess. 2013 Julia is a freaking mess, 2013 Mao is an improving Mao with great programs. So not the same at all, and shouldn't be used as example to show youngsters can win.
If Elena/Julia come out with better programs than Mao and Carolina (like Mao's programs were better than Irina in 2006) and with better skating skill than the old veterans, then their PCS wouldn't be 10 points back.
As for Li Zijun, this girl is very cute. Don't confuse cute with skating skill. Her skating skill is weak. Actually, she scored really well for what she did. Compare to Kostner's SS, which only barely cracked 9, Zijun's SS should be no more than 6. That alone is almost 4.7 points difference in the LP.
As for the CH, IN, not even close. Their programs are masterpiece, and Zijun's programs are forgettable. Cute, but nothing amazing about it. I wouldn't say her programs are even good.
So yes, she should be that many points behind. It's not like she went out with better programs than Mao and Carolina and somehow still managed to score 12 points behind them. This is not the same situation as 2006 at all. I don't care if Julia did 90 triples, she should never come close to any of Mao, Yuna, Carolina.
Li is not a powerful skater like Wagner, Gold, Osmond, Sotnikova, etc. Her SS is on par with what Radionova and Lipnitskaia, with their tiny, light frames, can physically put onto the ice. That translates into average or slightly above average SS. A "6" for SS would, in fact, suggest that Li is barely above the norm.
She's also quite a lyrical skater, which made "Sleeping Beauty" a good choice for her. Unfortunately, this was the one and only time I was disappointed with David Wilson's work this season, because Li couldn't and didn't project the highs and lows of the piece, even at Worlds. Had similar choreography been given to a mature skater like Yuna or Mao, I have no doubt that they would have presented it much better and still have made the World podium. People compare Li to young Yuna, but the frank fact is that Yuna was much more powerful, even as a junior, than Li will likely ever be.
Li's struggle right now is NOT to contend with the Big 3, because she's simply not there yet; nor will she be by the Olympics. None of the younger ladies can pose a significant threat to the top tier because they're not the reincarnations of young Yuna or Mao, obvious prodigies who medalled at Worlds in their first senior season. Rather, Li should focus on upstaging her generation of skaters--Sotnikova, Tukt, Osmond, and Gold--which will be a fight in and of itself. In terms of TES and PCS, Li is undoubtedly at the bottom of the shuffle right now. If she doesn't land her jumps, then nothing can save her, but if her jumps become more consistent and her SS improves (and, IMO, she should be aiming to surpass Gold, the strongest of that group), she'll be on the right track to a future World medal.