Current top skaters for 2022

[vesperalvioletta]

I suppose Shcherbakova could also be in the mix for ladies provided that she doesn't get injured again and is able to regain her jumping strength. I know she has a large and enthusiastic following here, so I'm not looking to stir the pot. I'm just not 100% convinced that she'll make it to 2022. We'll see how JGP goes this year.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

I think the main reason for OP to think that way is due to Nathan's hip surgery. He had one when he was 16 right?

Vincent, Boyang, Shoma havent had injuries that needed surgery before.
For Boyang, Sui/Han and any China skaters, if its not a career ending surgery, they will compete in 2022 since China will be the host.

Yes, Nathan needed hip surgery before. He has come back very well from that, my personal worry is only the 4Lo since loops are pretty hard on the hips. I'd say he has one important thing though that might help him, and that's proper technique. Neither Vincent nor Shoma have that, so I'd actually put a question mark more behind those two then Nathan or especially Boyang (who had no major injury outside of his ankles this season, has actually added his quads more gradually then the other 3 instead of "rushing" as much, and seems to be the one most careful in practices).
I'd expect all 4 to be in Beijing 2022, though it's hard to say who will be how competitive (not so much due to injuries though, and more "normal" staying on top for long is difficult and all that).

 

[lilsailor]

if it comes to it, will nathan choose 2022 over Yale is the question

Yuzuru will definately, if his ankle recovers over off-season, go for 2019 worlds, then see where to go from there probably, but if he think his body will keep up, and he thinks he can have success, i can see him trying for the 3rd ogm.. he wants to land a 4a and a quint, and i can't see him, unless he's forced out, retiring until he's done it

 

[lavenderblossom]

Username checks out. :sarcasm:

Osmond4Gold is fine, MiraiFan is fine, kolyadaverybest is not fine? I don't follow.

Alina is very young still, but she has grown this year so I don't think she will struggle with puberty. She will need to find motivation to continue.
But for any of the Russian ladies competing now, it will be very hard to fight against the waves of talent coming up.

I have some doubts about Chen after hearing he's going to Yale and plans to juggle skating and studying. I don't think it's logistically possible :confused2:

 

[vesperalvioletta]

Alina is very young still, but she has grown this year so I don't think she will struggle with puberty. She will need to find motivation to continue.
But for any of the Russian ladies competing now, it will be very hard to fight against the waves of talent coming up.:

This is the thing I struggle with when people speculate about puberty. Everyone is different, obviously, but girls start and finish puberty much earlier than boys do. Not that she won't get taller, but considering her age, I think it's very possible that Alina might be done developing, or won't develop any further unless she stops training. Speaking from personal experience, I'm fairly certain I reached my adult height by around 16.

 

[lavenderblossom]

This is the thing I struggle with when people speculate about puberty. Everyone is different, obviously, but girls start and finish puberty much earlier than boys do. Not that she won't get taller, but considering her age, I think it's very possible that Alina might be done developing, or won't develop any further unless she stops training. Speaking from personal experience, I'm fairly certain I reached my adult height by around 16.

I was the same, I finished growing around 17.
Boys on the other hand can keep growing into their early 20s.

 

[kolyadaverybest]

Yes, Nathan needed hip surgery before. He has come back very well from that, my personal worry is only the 4Lo since loops are pretty hard on the hips. I'd say he has one important thing though that might help him, and that's proper technique. Neither Vincent nor Shoma have that, so I'd actually put a question mark more behind those two then Nathan or especially Boyang (who had no major injury outside of his ankles this season, has actually added his quads more gradually then the other 3 instead of "rushing" as much, and seems to be the one most careful in practices).
I'd expect all 4 to be in Beijing 2022, though it's hard to say who will be how competitive (not so much due to injuries though, and more "normal" staying on top for long is difficult and all that).

He might be wise to just drop the 4loop. He doesnt need it at all, he do a program with 2 4ltz, 2 4flip, a 4toe, a 4sal, which would actually have more base value than what he is doing now including the 4loop, and he probably realistically doesnt even need to do that much, unless Hanyu comes back/continues at his best or something.

I like Shoma a lot but he has very bad jump technique and jump quality, that the judges completely ignore, and my patience is growing thin as he continues to get one questionable/undeserved medal after another (Olympics silver over Fernandez bigtime, maybe even bronze over Boyang; world silver over Kolyada) due to the inaccurate scoring he is getting on jumps with jacked up GOEs, pre rotations not called, flat out underrotation not called, etc... He would have been gifted the GPF over Chen too, had it not been for a musical time violation call, thank goodness, although both guys were overscored there relative to the others, and that whole event from everyone was kind of gross anyway. I think he is less prone to injury despite his flawed technique since his body is so small though, and isnt prone to things like hip or knee problems easily. He hasnt even had hardly any injuries to date and he is older than Chen. He also isnt practicing/doing nearly as many quad, even if he does a fair number himself.

 

[serty]

She wouldnt have won either the Europeans or Olympics without her 3Lz3Lo, even with her heavily backloaded programs. Change the points from that to a 3 lutz-triple toe and she has already lost, especialy the Olympics; and if she still barely wins Europeans it is only based on Medvedeva's double axel miss in the short and a few shaky landings in the long now. She also loses in China to Higuchi now, and possibly one of her other grand prixes. So even such a minor point is far from minor in her case.

As I said she is already maxing out in everyway, and all indications are she has to continue to, and hope others who have room to add dont add.

Love how you've completely ignored Medvedeva's flutz (like judges).

 

[sheetz]

Nathan's hip injury was an avulsion fraction, where the tendon suddenly ripped off a piece of bone from his pelvis. That's a bit different than injuries that other skaters usually get. For instance Lipinski had a torn labrum due gradual wear and tear over time. My understanding is that due to the nature of the injury Nathan was always expected to fully recover.

 

[kolyadaverybest]

Love how you've completely ignored Medvedeva's flutz (like judges).

Yes she flutzes but the judges dont care much, just as they dont care about Medvedeva's very imbalanced programs, amongst many other things, in awarding her severely jacked up PCS. I am talking about things and scores as they are, and not even getting into the scoring fairness much in this thread, hence why both those things arent much worth of a mention, and I save those for other threads. Now though if you really want to talk about Medvedeva's flutz and its improper scoring (which I agree on) though, god knows where we could go with Zagitova's probably craziest all time PCS, amongst other things, so you really dont want to go there.

 

[Danibellerika]

if it comes to it, will nathan choose 2022 over Yale is the question

Yuzuru will definately, if his ankle recovers over off-season, go for 2019 worlds, then see where to go from there probably, but if he think his body will keep up, and he thinks he can have success, i can see him trying for the 3rd ogm.. he wants to land a 4a and a quint, and i can't see him, unless he's forced out, retiring until he's done it

4a, yes, but I think he was being more theoretical about quints.

 

[kolyadaverybest]

While I see the concern about Nathan wanting to balance skating and school, which I wouldnt recommend for most skaters going for Olympic Gold potentially (although Debi did both academics and elite skating for years beautiful; with what we now know is a severe bipolar disorder to boot). I think in his case it might be a blessing. Since not overpracticing the number of quads he does, and maybe even doing a slightly more limited competition schedule some seasons, might be just what he needs to do what I questioned his ability to do; physically make it to 2022. I think that if he is serious about that, that is his best chance to prove my original prognosis wrong and make it to 2022. Which outweighs any of the potential drawbacks.

Again I wouldnt say that for most skaters, but he is a unique case due to the punishing nature of what he is forcing on his body (which at a young age has already had some significant injuries), which goes beyond pretty much any skater ever.

 

[yume]

Zagitova has already a more mature body than Medvedeva at the same age. She can grow again but i don't see a transformation à la Radionova. I don't think she's at her max technically. I wouldn't be surprised to see a quad.

 

[franzkatka]

OGM's usually retire. I expect Zagitova to follow suit, especialy after her horrendous worlds.

And Zagitova hasnt even begun to grow, and has never gone through trials and turbulations as of yet. Medvedeva went through the biggest one of her life with her injury and comeback this year and survived it. She has the hunger and drive of the OGM still, which Zagitova already has lost as she has it. And I doubt even if Zagitova continues if she will survive puberty and the other obstacles she hasnt even begun to face yet. I am not sure with the Russian depth if either could make the 2022 team if they tried, but Medvedeva is definitely far more likely for Beijing than Zagitova is.

One bad competition and Zagitova has lost the hunger and drive? I wouldn’t blame her for stopping, but I think it’s too early to predict that.

 

[brens78]

4 years away is such a long time so anything could happen really...

 

[icybear]

I think Medvedeva will retire before 2022. By 2020 there will probably be 6 Russian girls who can easily outscore her and she's already famous enough have a career in showbiz

 

[oatmella]

It's hard for me to see either Zagitova or Medvedeva staying at the top of Russian ladies until 2022.

I wouldn't say Nathan's hip surgery at 16 would have an impact on his longevity - as far as I know, the injury was also related to growth.
As for Vincent - I really hope he will be able to last until 2022, but I can't say his prospects for lasting until then would be better than Nathan's - Vincent's body wasn't really holding up recently at worlds

 

[cheerio2]

Yes pretty much this. She pretty much has nowhere to go from her. And even as she is a slightly subpar/just back from injury Medvedeva and Osmond are fairly close, and have things they can both easily look to add whereas Zagitova is already maxed out, and is going to continue to have to do that crazy backloaded program which she might not be able to keep doing every year, and hope none of her rivals start doing it also. And if her body changes at all, or she loses any of her consistency, good luck. Or if her already bloated PCS which practically the whole skating community are in an uproar over, drop even a bit.

There are many reasons beyond her performance at worlds to be doubting Zagitova's longevity in the sport as being likely. Along with that the reigning ladies OGM usually doesnt even continue to begin with.

Speak for yourself. I enjoyed Zagitova's programs and think she has good artistry and grace and plenty of others think the same. I haven't followed ladies figure skating for 4 years and watched this Olympics not knowing who any of the ladies competitors were, not even Medvedeva, and you can see this from my posting history. I enjoyed Zagitova's Olympic performances more than any of the other ladies and rewatched them several times. I was captivated by her technical difficulty, her pretty rippon jumps, difficult transitions, as well as her artistry. She conveyed the pathos and chaos of the Black Swan, and her long program was cheerful, delicate ballerina on ice. Johnny, Tara, Scott, Dick Button all seemed to like her. Canadian commentators have said that she has nice lines, skating, and musicality. But the bellyaching about Zagitova's supposed lack of artistry seems to always come from skating elitists like you who state your personal opinion as if it were the law of the land.

 

[dansams]

Let's get real. The list of top skaters for 2022 begins and ends w/ Trusova unless there's a major rule change that ramps up the PCS.

In that case, Kostornaia.

 

[MarinHondas]

I was the same, I finished growing around 17.
Boys on the other hand can keep growing into their early 20s.

Puberty is often delayed in elite athletes. Due to the intense physical training they undergo from a young age. Some skaters don't go through puberty until 18 or after.