Child prodigy vs late bloomer

[Ladskater]

Karen Magnussen is my female skating hero. She started skating at age six. Karen was a natural. She dominated Canadian Ladies skating in the seventies and was World Champion in 1973 and Olympic Silver medalist in 1972. Karen made a career of FS and coached until recently when an accident at her rink (named after her) prevented her to enter a rink. I would want to emulate Karen Magnussen in the FS world is my short answer

 

[yume]

I think Nathan Chen deserves his own category. He is just phenomenal.

He's a child prodigy. He is still young and have big guns. If he was 27 and still landing all those quads consistently that would be phenomenal.

 

[ali0125]

As that ad says: Why not have both

Which is what Plushy kinda did. He burst onto the scene way back in 1997-98 and was awesome the whole time he competed basically which was for over 10 years (excluding breaks). He even stopped competing for long stretches and was still able to regain his technical content and challenge the new contenders.

Yuna belongs to this category - all podium career. And Mao, who's definitely a child prodigy, also won worlds when she was 22/23.

 

[yume]

As that ad says: Why not have both

Too easy. You can't have both. You have to choose.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Too easy. You can't have both. You have to choose.

Guess that's why Plushy is my fave.

I guess I'd take a late bloomer, because as mentioned I like to watch skaters for a long time. A child prodigy is probably more inclined to finish their career sooner and with no pro-circuit anymore they disappear.

 

[iluvtodd]

Two of my favorite international late bloomers? - Sergei Voronov (now retired) & Alexey Bychenko!

 

[lariko]

I watch junior competitions as well as seniors, so I appreciate the athletes who capture the lead early, shine in juniors, make a successful transition to seniors, and leave a bright, high bonfire in their wake. If it is one or two seasons in seniors, that’s fine. I am not a big fan of the Olympics, so I don’t care about them making it there, as long as they are unforgettable.

so, yeah, for me it’s not about how long, it’s about how bright

 

[ladyjane]

Two of my favorite international late bloomers? - Sergei Voronov (now retired) & Alexey Bychenko!

I'm with you here. Alexey has still got the torch burning...he had a wonderful skate in the SP at SA.

 

[Zora]

Another great late bloomer was Samuel Contesti.

I think it's inspiring to see a skater, who has been around for years, to suddenly step it up and become competitive. But how many skaters can afford that? So as a skater, I'd probably prefer early success.

 

[Ophelia]

If you were a skater, would you prefer to be a baby jumper who has Medvedeva's 3 first senior seasons and retire at 18-19yo or someone like Butyrskaya who become really successful in late 20s but skated long?

I prefer to be whatever gets me the OGM and/or can rake me in big advertising deals so I can make $.