- Joined
- Apr 30, 2017
Hi guys, a new fs fan here. A burning question I hope some experts on this website can share their opinions on:
I've seen plenty recent cases of girls, particular Russian ones, receiving the blunt of puberty to the point of losing everything they've learnt since childhood and being forced to either re-learn all from scratch or giving up their elite status altogether. So one must beg the question what factors could constitute to such heartbreaks. Obviously it's mostly genes, but which aspects? Is it gender? Body type? Ethnicity? Living condition? etc.
Does pre pubescent height determine how one's physical attributes could change? Polina and Maria are so tall now and could be seen struggling with it. I'd argue this is the case for Anna too.
But then smaller girls like Yulia and Elena did not fare much better themselves.
Maybe weight has something to do with it? Evgenia was already stick thin back then and her legs only seem to grow thinner every day. But Yulia was slim too and we saw how that went.
Still, that's only looking at the Russian pool. The rate of girls dealing with puberty issues seems to be much lower in Asia when compared to that of Russia. I can think of only Rika and maybe Kanako? outgrowing their frames, and that's only by a small margin in comparison. Perhaps ethnicity might also play a part?
And we're not even looking at the men. Nam Nguyen is the only case I could think of who suffered from drastic body changes. Anyone else I'm missing here? If the number is indeed smaller for male skaters, why do you think this came to be? What physical features do men possess to be able to limit the damages of puberty?
One touchy factor I could think of: diet, and the availability of food. Do you think Yulia's pre-Sochi diet to prolong her junior physiques actually made it worse for her later on in terms of the extent of her growth? And what do you think about the opinion that skaters coming from better-off families might have more access to higher-calorie food with unhealthy content which could negatively affect their growth?
I've seen plenty recent cases of girls, particular Russian ones, receiving the blunt of puberty to the point of losing everything they've learnt since childhood and being forced to either re-learn all from scratch or giving up their elite status altogether. So one must beg the question what factors could constitute to such heartbreaks. Obviously it's mostly genes, but which aspects? Is it gender? Body type? Ethnicity? Living condition? etc.
Does pre pubescent height determine how one's physical attributes could change? Polina and Maria are so tall now and could be seen struggling with it. I'd argue this is the case for Anna too.
But then smaller girls like Yulia and Elena did not fare much better themselves.
Maybe weight has something to do with it? Evgenia was already stick thin back then and her legs only seem to grow thinner every day. But Yulia was slim too and we saw how that went.
Still, that's only looking at the Russian pool. The rate of girls dealing with puberty issues seems to be much lower in Asia when compared to that of Russia. I can think of only Rika and maybe Kanako? outgrowing their frames, and that's only by a small margin in comparison. Perhaps ethnicity might also play a part?
And we're not even looking at the men. Nam Nguyen is the only case I could think of who suffered from drastic body changes. Anyone else I'm missing here? If the number is indeed smaller for male skaters, why do you think this came to be? What physical features do men possess to be able to limit the damages of puberty?
One touchy factor I could think of: diet, and the availability of food. Do you think Yulia's pre-Sochi diet to prolong her junior physiques actually made it worse for her later on in terms of the extent of her growth? And what do you think about the opinion that skaters coming from better-off families might have more access to higher-calorie food with unhealthy content which could negatively affect their growth?