How many years to make an Olympic level skater? And other questions | Page 2 | Golden Skate

How many years to make an Olympic level skater? And other questions

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
He has landed quads, but his success rate was pretty meh. Anyway, doesn't matter. Evan and Johnny were Olympic level skaters even though they've got no chance to medal nowadays.
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I'm not really sure what the original post is asking. How long does it take to get from beginner to the minimum skill level needed to qualify for an Olympic team? How long does the average Olympic medal contender (a very small sampling) take to reach that maximum skill level?

Most skaters who start training at any age will never land triple jumps.

Even fewer who start after puberty will ever land triple jumps.

Ease of movement across the ice -- the actual skating between the tricks -- also tends to come more naturally those who start skating at a young age. Getting on the ice at a very young (preschool) age tends to help balance, but rigorous technical training may not be appropriate until school age.

Natural physical talent and body type, quality of coaching, amount of coaching and practice time, temperament for hard work, etc., all affect how successful a skater will be at mastering advanced skills, and then other talents play into less technical areas such as connecting to music and audiences.

The odds are against any skater making it to the elite level, even starting at the optimal age with optimal coaching and training conditions.

Of the many thousands of kids worldwide who start skating lessons every year, probably less than 1% will ever become senior-level competitors. And maybe 1% of those would really have the skills to compete for world and Olympic medals.

The people we see on TV competing for Olympic medals are all exceptional, even the ones who don't succeed in approaching the podium on Olympic ice.

On average I'd estimate it takes about 10 years to go from beginner to senior competitor, sometimes a few years less especially for girls. Men tend to peak athletically at older ages (early 20s rather than mid teens). Pair and dance teams need to develop their partnerships as well as their individual skills. Presentation tends to improve with age as long as the athleticism doesn't fall off.

Whether they actually get the opportunity to compete at an Olympics at all will depend a lot on the depth of competition within their home countries and other factors of luck, such as injuries, financial ability to continue competing, or when their athletic peak falls in the Olympic cycle.

Sticking around longer can increase the number of Olympics a skater can try to qualify for.
 

SkateFan66

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
It's true, not to mention Weir was not really successful either. So I guess, 4-5 years is the ideal age. If not, at least 8 years old like Lysaeck. But Lysaeck is quadless and a quadless ma[l]e skater these days is not that appreciated anymore.

Lysacek successfully landed quads in competition. From 2006-09, he regularly attempted quads in competition) He last landed a quad in international competition at 2009 4CC. (Which was held in Feb. 2009...about one year before his last competition) Shortly after 2009 4CC, Lysacek was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his foot. Therefore, he took the quad out for the 2009 WC and 2009 WTT. Lysacek was off ice for one month during the summer of 2009 while the stress fracture healed. Thus, he was later getting started preparing for the Olympic season. The initial plan was to gradually work the quad back in before Vancouver. He ended up not attempting the quad during the Grand Prix season. After winning the GP final without the quad, Lysacek changed his free skate before 2010 US Nationals and put the quad in the program. The result was not good. Realizing that he had waited too late to make major changes to the free skate, Lysacek wisely opted to use the original version of his free skate in Vancouver. At that time, a skater could win a major international competition without a quad.

I may be in the minority; however, I appreciate skaters that deliver great performances... with or without a quad.
 

joannix

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
I found this, in case anyone's interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_figure_skating_by_age

Obviously, the list is terribly incomplete (especially for men). But judging by the list and general comments I've heard, I'd say ~20-21 is the peak for men and ~19 for women (assuming you survive puberty). Anytime in your twenties seem okay for pairs/ice dance, presumably because teams take time to gel. And of course, there's always exceptions (Yuzu and Tara on the young side, Plush and Caro on the old side).


Thanks!!! Sometimes it takes time to find this link :p
 

Matilda

Medalist
Joined
Dec 19, 2012
It's true, not to mention Weir was not really successful either. So I guess, 4-5 years is the ideal age. If not, at least 8 years old like Lysaeck. But Lysaeck is quadless and a quadless make skater these days is not that appreciated anymore.

Jr. WC, 3 x US National champion, Worlds bronze, multiple GP wins and GPF medals, two-time Olympian. That's pretty successful by my standards.

Both Johnny and Evan did quads in practice and included it in some competitions. At the time the system punished much harder for double-footing or falling on the quad, so skaters were more likely to play safe than now. Johnny used to land pretty amazing quad combinations in practice: http://youtu.be/USs7ulzmiZI

I don't think the starting age is a defining factor--what works for one skater does not work for another.
 

Meoima

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Jr. WC, 3 x US National champion, Worlds bronze, multiple GP wins and GPF medals, two-time Olympian. That's pretty successful by my standards.
Compare to his talent, he could have archived much much more. He could have been the most successful skater in U.S. That's my point. But practically he did archive more than most skaters out there.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
Not sure if the age they started skating at had anything to do with them being (relatively) lacking in quads. Too many factors go into that. Anyway, opening poster was asking 'Olympic level' not whether they could medal nowadays. Johhny and Evan were Olympians, even if neither of them was at the technical forefront of their sport.
 

PlaysInTheDirt

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
At the risk of being misunderstood, I'm going to say something different than the others because I'm a little confused by the question, too. You can go to youtube and find children who are two and three years old doing quite well on ice skates, but parents don't make Olympians and those who have that goal in mind tend to put good parenting lower on their priority list.

When a child is crying and the parent yelling that they've spent too much time and money on a sport to let the child quit, they have an agenda they shouldn't have. And for all the times I've seen this at our local skating rink and gym, there is only one person we know in those two groups who made the U.S. National team. It was in men's gymnastics and he then won bronze at the Pan Am Championships. Others may have done well in their sport in college, but none of the little Olympians these parents thought they were raising, and coaches said they were coaching, made it to the Olympic level.

Apart from gymnastics and figure skating, the one Olympian we know (Sochi) never ever ever wanted to quit doing what she was doing, which was playing ice hockey. Her parents didn't push her, they just supported her in doing what she loves.

Expose your child to everything, let them decide what they love and then support them in their effort. Nothing matters more than the relationship between you.
 

SkateFan66

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Not sure if the age they started skating at had anything to do with them being (relatively) lacking in quads. Too many factors go into that. Anyway, opening poster was asking 'Olympic level' not whether they could medal nowadays. Johhny and Evan were Olympians, even if neither of them was at the technical forefront of their sport.

I agree, whether Johnny or Evan could medal now is irrelevant. They were both two-time Olympians....Dick Button & Scott Hamilton could not medal today either. ;) Moreover, while Lysacek was not at the technical forefront of his sport, he was a World Champion and an Olympic Champion.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Regarding Johnny yes it is especialy irrelevant considering he wasnt even close to a medal ever in his own time either.

He was sitting in 2nd after the SP in 2006. He blew it in the LP, but 5th overall and positioned to win a medal isn't bad.

I would have also had him ahead of Chan in 2010 and ahead of Takahashi (the bronze medalist) and Chan in the FS, arguably ahead of Lambiel in the FS too.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Gracie Gold started at 8. I believe Polina Edmunds started at 3 or 4. I think Ashley Wagner started at 6 or 7.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
He was sitting in 2nd after the SP in 2006. He blew it in the LP, but 5th overall and positioned to win a medal isn't bad.

I would have also had him ahead of Chan in 2010 and ahead of Takahashi (the bronze medalist) and Chan in the FS, arguably ahead of Lambiel in the FS too.

While Johnny isn't the best skater of his era, he's still a commendable Olympic-level athlete. He really was poised to get a medal in Torino. Even after he skated his watered-down LP, the Eurosport commentators thought he had a good chance to get on the podium, considering how the other guys skated. I think everyone was pretty confused back in '06 over the new scoring system anyway. It appears to have affected Weir more badly than others. Ultimately, I felt like he made for a better 6.0 skater (and he didn't have the tech content of Plushenko or pre-2010 Brian Joubert to muscle his way through COP).

He should've been ahead of Chan in Vancouver, no question. And I give him serious props for being one of like, three, people who stayed on their feet throughout the LP. :biggrin:
 

concorde

Medalist
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
Michael Weiss started a 9. I think men can start later since they tend to peak later. The difficulty required in men's skating requires more physical strength which most do not gain have until after puberty.

However, the ladies are fighting against puberty. For the most part, if a girl does not have a jump before puberty, she will not get it after puberty.
 
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