Janet Lynn: A Measured Fall from Freedom

[Flying Feijoa]

There are plenty of ladies (and men of course) who got injured or even had to stop their career while never training quads. Even ice dancers.

Indeed, lots of other figure skating elements are potentially injurious too. Ice dancers can also get concussions or knee/back injuries from lifts, but nobody is debating dance lift rules.

Also pairs obviously has high trauma potential, e.g. being dropped from a lift, landing wrong from a throw, or even freak accidents like side-by-side pair spin collisions (Berezhnaya or Dube). These skills can't be omitted, they just have to be trained carefully to reduce risk.

About ladies, Biellmanns can cause or aggravate back injuries particularly in less flexible individuals. But they are generally seen as a 'ladylike' move, so maybe that's why they get less scrutiny than quads? (that and the fact it's possible to get L4 without them, albeit with difficulty)

 

[Flying Feijoa]

As for the Intermediate levels--here's where we see teens start dropping out, often due to nagging injuries and the resulting medical treatments and BILLS. I do think some of these injuries happen because so many of our American young teens are much heavier than girls were 50 years ago, and some of the coaches haven't figure out how to work with girls who weigh, on average, 140 pounds or more. This is far from being "overweight," but it is definitely heavier than "the old days," and coaches, especially older coaches, need to learn more about working with bigger young women. OR...haha...maybe the sport needs to add "weight classes?' like so many other sports! (Kidding!)

Is this 140 pound number based on the general US population average for girls in that age bracket, or anecdotally based on skaters that you know? It certainly doesn't seem to be the case for either low-level skaters at my local Canadian club or at US/CAN nationals.

Furthermore absolute weight also doesn't mean much without accounting for height/muscle mass etc. According to Google Kostner is/was 60 kg (height 1.69 m). Healthy BMI, nobody in their sane mind would consider her 'big', plus it certainly didn't impede her from jumping 3-3s.

Coaches who cannot to work with young women at or not far off Kostner's weight/build without injuring them (or giving them an eating disorder) are just incompetent coaches.

 

[el henry]

Indeed, lots of other figure skating elements are potentially injurious too. Ice dancers can also get concussions or knee/back injuries from lifts, but nobody is debating dance lift rules.

Also pairs obviously has high trauma potential, e.g. being dropped from a lift, landing wrong from a throw, or even freak accidents like side-by-side pair spin collisions (Berezhnaya or Dube). These skills can't be omitted, they just have to be trained carefully to reduce risk.

About ladies, Biellmanns can cause or aggravate back injuries particularly in less flexible individuals. But they are generally seen as a 'ladylike' move, so maybe that's why they get less scrutiny than quads? (that and the fact it's possible to get L4 without them, albeit with difficulty)

I am not certain to whom or what the OP is referring, but speaking for myself, spins, lifts and all sorts of other elements are indeed dangerous if not done correctly. Jason in one interview he stretched for one hour every day.

Which is one reason (among many to me) that all these other non-jump elements should be given their athletic props along with jumps. My reasoning for wanting the age limit raised one measly year for senior women has little or nothing to do with quads in and of themselves, but with everything. Just everything.

Then again, I can't stand Bielmanns, so if a skater never did another BIelmann (as opposed lovely camel or layback spins) I'd be one happy camper.

 

[moonvine]

I am not certain to whom or what the OP is referring, but speaking for myself, spins, lifts and all sorts of other elements are indeed dangerous if not done correctly. Jason in one interview he stretched for one hour every day.

Which is one reason (among many to me) that all these other non-jump elements should be given their athletic props along with jumps. My reasoning for wanting the age limit raised one measly year for senior women has little or nothing to do with quads in and of themselves, but with everything. Just everything.

Then again, I can't stand Bielmanns, so if a skater never did another BIelmann (as opposed lovely camel or layback spins) I'd be one happy camper.

Or as Uncle Dick so aptly called them “that ugly catchfoot.”

 

[moonvine]

We don't see injuries in the "elite" level of figure skating, those who have "made it" to the Senior level AND are seen on television broadcasts.

But we see plenty of injuries at the lower levels of figure skating, even down to the Preliminary, Pre-Juvie, and Juvenile levels, where pre-pubescent girls are working on doubles (Prelims), double axels and their first triples. They just don't have the strength and flexibility due to inadequate training, and dare I say, "inadequate" coaching. Several years ago, U.S. Figure Skating attempted to limit the jumps that Juvies can do in competition, but I'm not sure if that stuck or not.

I don't think school figures should be "required," but I think a wise coach would incorporate edge work of some kind into the training of even very young skaters.

As for the Intermediate levels--here's where we see teens start dropping out, often due to nagging injuries and the resulting medical treatments and BILLS. I do think some of these injuries happen because so many of our American young teens are much heavier than girls were 50 years ago, and some of the coaches haven't figure out how to work with girls who weigh, on average, 140 pounds or more. This is far from being "overweight," but it is definitely heavier than "the old days," and coaches, especially older coaches, need to learn more about working with bigger young women. OR...haha...maybe the sport needs to add "weight classes?' like so many other sports! (Kidding!)

This is extremely disturbing to hear - about the inadequate training and coaching.

 

[flanker]

My conclusion is that the way how to reduce (never eliminate, that's impossible) the risk of injury in sport is careful/caring and professional coaching attitude, not the general difficulty reduction.
(Not that this is a discovery of a brand new continent )

 

[eppen]

Last year when the age limit raise for women was discussed I did some digging and looked at data from World medalists 1955-2019. Most of the post copied here:

"I looked at the age when they first entered senior ranks, when they first medaled in a major competition in senior ranks and when they first won (if they won) a major competition. Then I also looked at their career lengths and, if there was a junior one, how many seasons that was. The first year was sort of arbitrary, but 1955 gives a perspective to what happens today. 84 ladies all in all, all top skaters of their day!

From 1955 until around mid-90s 53 skaters (I drew the line between Irina Slutskaya and Tara Lipinski, so not along the 1996 age limit rule imposition, but very close to it anyway). The average age for entering senior ranks was 15 years, the youngest was 11 (Anett Pötsch (GDR) and the oldest 18 (4 ladies, Julie Lynn Holmes (USA), Debi Thomas (USA), Caryn Kadavy (USA), Jill Trenary (USA). They mostly had to compete for two years or so before medaling at 17 and then the next season they started winning at 18. The youngest medalist was again Anett Pötsch at 14, and 5 were already champions at 15 years of age (Ingrid Wendl (AUT), Hanna Eigel (AUT), Janet Lynn (USA), Oksana Baiul (UKR), Michelle Kwan (USA). The average length of a senior career was 7 seasons and some may have had a season in the juniors from the mid-1980s onwards. The short ones with only 2-4 seasons were 10 in number (Hanna Eigel (AUT), Barbara Roles (USA), Julie Lynn Holmes (USA), Rosalynn Sumners (USA+1 junior), Debi Thomas (USA), Caryn Kadavy (USA), Kristi Yamaguchi (USA+1 junior), Oksana Baiul (UKR), Yuka Sato (JPN+ 2 juniors), Tanja Szewczenko (GER+2 juniors). 7 ladies had a career with 10 or more seasons in seniors (Sjoukje Dijkstra (NED), Gabriele Seyfert (AUT), Anett Pötsch (GDR), Katarina Witt (GDR), Kira Ivanova (URSS+1 junior), Midori Ito (JPN+ 2 juniors), Michelle Kwan (USA+2 juniors), Irina Slutskaya (RUS+3 juniors).

Things to consider when interpreting these numbers. First, compulsory figures tended to hinder the rocketing careers of good jumpers - time and experience were important there. The first ever lightning fast career was Oksana Baiul immediately after the abolition of the figures. Secondly, the 6.0 system maybe tended to favour experience and familiarity even more then IJS, a new girl would not get super high scores even if they might have merited it (technically). Thirdly, a junior career did not exist - if you could, yuu went straight to the seniors, the wannabes were mostly doing junior worlds until the late 1990s. Fifth, the division between amateur and professional was watertight until late in the 1990s. I don't think it is a coincidence that many of the short careers are from US skaters who could turn pro and start making money more easily than the rest of the world. There were also many opportunities for doing that.

Then mid-90s to 2019 with 29 skaters. Average entry to seniors at 16, but this is after 15 became the official senior entry age. The oldest is Laura Lepistö (FIN) at the tender age of 19. The average age for both first medaling and first major win is 18. The 14 to 16 year olds winning major competitions for the first time are 8 in number (Tara Lipinski (USA), Sarah Hughes (USA), Kimmie Meissner (USA), Mao Asada (JPN), Yuna Kim (KOR), Yulia Lipnitskaya (RUS), Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS), Alina Zagitova (RUS). Average career length is 7 seasons with 2 junior seasons before that. The 2-4 seasons careers have not been that common actually - 6 ladies (Tara Lipinski (USA), Sarah Hughes (USA), Kimmie Meissner (USA), Laura Lepistö (FIN), Wakaba Higuchi (JPN), Alina Zagitova (RUS) with one or two of them still continuing. 8 ladies skated for 10 or more seasons (Maria Butyrskaya (RUS), Fumie Suguri (JPN), Elena Sokolova (RUS), Carolina Kostner (ITA), Mao Asada (JPN), Alena Leonova (RUS), Akiko Suzuki (JPN), Ashley Wagner (USA). And these are mostly even longer because all but Butyrskaya had at least one junior season before seniors.

So, actually not much has changed since the 1990s. But in fact the current skaters start seniors later, achieve medals and major victories later than the ladies from the 1950s to mid-1990s. The average length is the same, the numbers of very short and very long careers roughly the same. However, junior seasons make their careers longer than before. There is also no need to turn professional - the few tours and shows tend to be organized off season or between major competitions so that those who get invited/cast can also participate and make money of their skating whilst competing."

So, looking at that data, among women, the very short and very long careers are relatively rare and most tend to skate for about 7 seasons internationally. Women have rarely continued their skating careers into their late 20s - this I will have to check actually, but considering that most begin their careers in their teens, retirement after 7 seasons is around 20 or slightly later. Since the 1950s women competing in figure skating have been mostly teenagers and less commonly young adults.

Janet Lynn btw competed internationally for the first time in 1968 at the age of almost 15 (she was born in early April, and the Worlds were held in early March that year). The year before she had already won the nationals in seniors and the following year she won the North American championships. She medaled in the Worlds in 1972 at 18 years of age (her poor compulsory figures probably mostly to blame) and the same year also at Olys. She continued one more year, but retired after 1972-3 season at the tender age of 20. She had 6 seasons in the seniors. Trixie Schuba was born in 1951 and started her international career at almost 16 in 1967. She medaled first in 1969 at about 19 and won her first gold a year later at 20. She retired after winning the Olympics in 1972 at 21 years of age with also 6 seasons at international competitions.

What I would be curious to see is a good study on the reasons for retirement and what part injuries played in it. I did a bit of google scholaring earlier, but could not find any specific work on this aspect. There is a new Finnish MA thesis in English with a bit on the reasons although the emphasis is heavily on the transition to post-competetive life. For the subjects to this study, the reasons were almost as many as there were of them.

Also found this medical review article on injuries, what kind, which discipline and how many. This suggests that there was an increase in injuries overall between 1982-2003 and that this reflects the increased technical difficulty. Unfortunately, apparently there have been not enough studies on this topic for the IJS era or even for men doing increasing numbers of quads after that time. One can only hope that coaching guidelines and practices would be modified in such a way that at least the kind of injuries that could be prevented with proper training became rarer. Figure skating is an early specialization sport and as such, I could imagine that problems dealt with early easily become worse with time.

I have also sometimes wondred whether the recent discussion on safety and health of the skaters - very much focused on the women - smacks slightly of protecting the poor woman from herself because she does not understand the danger of her aspirations. The comparison to men is perhaps not possible due already the possible/probable physical differences which makes it likely for the little boys doing quads to relearn them successfully after they grow 30 cm in height. Could it be possible also for girls? The science seems to be of the opinion that the adult female body is not built to do quads, but I still wonder. Figure skating is so much about the psychological part, about self confidence, and if everyone and everything says to you all the time that sth is not possible, you probably start believing it and don't even try seriously in the end.

E

 

[el henry]

....

I have also sometimes wondred whether the recent discussion on safety and health of the skaters - very much focused on the women - smacks slightly of protecting the poor woman from herself because she does not understand the danger of her aspirations. The comparison to men is perhaps not possible due already the possible/probable physical differences which makes it likely for the little boys doing quads to relearn them successfully after they grow 30 cm in height. Could it be possible also for girls? The science seems to be of the opinion that the adult female body is not built to do quads, but I still wonder. Figure skating is so much about the psychological part, about self confidence, and if everyone and everything says to you all the time that sth is not possible, you probably start believing it and don't even try seriously in the end.

E

Thank you for the extended discussion and reporting.

As someone who would like to see the women's age raised, and who will match my feminist activist bona fides against anyone, it has nothing to do with "protecting the poor woman". We almost never see prepubescent boys on the Senior Circuit. If we did, I would be making the same arguments and expressing the same concerns.

But I don't need to, because the boys and their coaches are protecting themselves. I want to protect children of all genders. For me, it's all about equality

 

[wakuwaku]

Last year when the age limit raise for women was discussed I did some digging and looked at data from World medalists 1955-2019. Most of the post copied here:

Interesting statistics. I probabaly missed it - but I couldn't find to what conclusion you arrived at in the end? There should be some purpose of that research, I think?

As someone who would like to see the women's age raised, and who will match my feminist activist bona fides against anyone, it has nothing to do with "protecting the poor woman". We almost never see prepubescent boys on the Senior Circuit. If we did, I would be making the same arguments and expressing the same concerns.

But I don't need to, because the boys and their coaches are protecting themselves. I want to protect children of all genders. For me, it's all about equality

Protect from what, exactly? Victories and money? Because injuries are as widespread in junior league as in senior - if not more. Juniors training and competing in junior competitions are as prone to injuries as seniors. And men beginning later have nothing to do with 'protecting' them. Men developing slower, getting to their peak body conditions later - therefore they can't compete with their more older rivals even in TES. It's just physiology. Every coach dreams about his pupils getting important medals as soon as possible - and if they can't do it - it's definitely not because coaches deliberately sabotage their pupils to 'protect' them ))

 

[el henry]

Interesting statistics. I probabaly missed it - but I couldn't find to what conclusion you arrived at in the end? There should be some purpose of that research, I think?

Protect from what, exactly? Victories and money? Because injuries are as widespread in junior league as in senior - if not more. Juniors training and competing in junior competitions are as prone to injuries as seniors. And men beginning later have nothing to do with 'protecting' them. Men developing slower, getting to their peak body conditions later - therefore they can't compete with their more older rivals even in TES. It's just physiology. Every coach dreams about his pupils getting important medals as soon as possible - and if they can't do it - it's definitely not because coaches deliberately sabotage their pupils to 'protect' them ))

My argument was that I have the same concerns for women as for men, that it has diddly boom to do with sexism. So my post remains the same.

I don't give a hoot about victories and money as compared to health. And I sure as heck don't care about a coach's dreams as compared to a student's health.

Never have, never will.

(and I'm afraid that I can't revive the argument about what is dangerous to health, since my post wasn't about that, but the fact that I am one person who has the same concerns about men and women. Too many times, after I list medical studies, I will hear "But it doesn't specify that the health risks are to Mary Sue training quads on Tuesday". I don't have time to track down my old posts today )

 

[eppen]

Interesting statistics. I probabaly missed it - but I couldn't find to what conclusion you arrived at in the end? There should be some purpose of that research, I think?

The aim of the age survey was to study the ages of women skaters in FS history - the current discussion is focused heavily on what happens now, but the survey indicates that historically the situation is not really different. Women have for the most part been very young/young when they have started their international careers and have in general also retired quite young. The prepubescent girls (when it comes to age) have been a fairly big part of the senior competitions before the age restriction of 15 was implemented in the late 1990s. I extended my data to cover the whole post-IIWW era and for example, among the 87 women who competed through to the 1960 Worlds, 21 (24%) were 11 to 14 years old in their first international competition. The "mature" female skater at the height of or towards the end of her competitive career is often still a teenager or maybe in her early 20s. The lengths of careers have in reality not changed very much overall - the very short and the very long are equally rare, the majority have 6-7 years at international level. Based on this, the current situation is nothing new and the concern for the short careers seems perhaps a little exaggerated.

Add: When I started that survey, I fully expected that women in the past had regularly longer careers than our current skaters. My belief was proven wrong.

My protection comment was probably inspired by this study on Canadian cases with a heavy critical feminist point of view (turned into an article available here). And by some of the current discussions on women and costumes in sport (The Norwegian beach volleyball team getting fined for wearing a pair of shorts instead of a tiny bikini bottom as required? Or the German gymnasts wearing a unitard?) The research linked to above discuss at length how women are being controlled in different ways in sports by the governing institutions and sometimes the different rules for men and women make little or no sense.

In FS there are some gender specific rules on costumes which seem somewhat irrelevant, but the restrictions of tech content are more interesting. The length of programs was changed only recently to be the same for everyone (argued for by media demaning shorter competitions), but that rule could have been also seen in the light of regarding women as the weaker sex. The research (can't remember if it was in one of those or sth else) discusses also attitudes in coaching - men are encouraged to attack the hard stuff whereas women are told to fine tune and be more delicate in their approach etc.

I do understand the concern for the health of the skaters and am for keeping everyone safe. But there does not seem to be a whole lot of research on the correlation of quads/difficult jump content and injuries for women AFAIK. The flexibility requirements in many of the elements are also a question mark as has been pointed out in some of the posts in this thread. As things are at the moment, I feel a lot of the discussion is based on opinion rather than actual data at every level from fans to ISU.

E

 

[flanker]

Just a little note. The question of age is circulating around here still. At the current olympics we can see 16 y. o. swimmers, gymnasts etc. At the olympic premiere of the skateboarding discipline the gold medal was won by a 13 (!) y. o. japanese girl (other medalists were 13 and 16), but there were also women over 30 in the starting field, cheering for the girls twice as young as them, not complaining about the age advance fo their rivals like some figure skaters), which is too much even for me, but once again I don't think figure skating is different that the age eligiblity for seniors should be higher than in most of the other sports.

 

[anonymoose_au]

At the olympic premiere of the skateboarding discipline the gold medal was won by a 13 (!) y. o. japanese girl (other medalists were 13 and 16

I saw that too. It's interesting though that some sports can have such young competitors. I always thought it was standardized. I wonder how the sports decide age limits...

I saw a post about the youngest Olympic medallists, the youngest was a 10 year old boy! Imagine that today!

 

[flanker]

I saw that too. It's interesting though that some sports can have such young competitors. I always thought it was standardized. I wonder how the sports decide age limits...

I saw a post about the youngest Olympic medallists, the youngest was a 10 year old boy! Imagine that today!

It's more or less independent for every sport. E. g. in the rhytmic gymnastics, that is often compared to figure skating, the senior eligibility is 16, but yopu have to reach 16 before the end of the year of the competition so in fact you can compete at 15 already. Very low limit is in diving, where for instance the ukraininan boy Oleksiy Sereda won the 2019 European championships at the age of 13. He's present at the olympics too, now 15.

 

[noskates]

I really don't think you can compare different sports - skate boarding vs. figure skating? That's like comparing chihuahuas and great danes. The impact on the individual's body is wayyyy different. And each human being, no matter their gender, is different. Some people mature physically faster than others. A 13 yr old riding a skateboard down a railing is totally different than a 13 yr old trying to land quads repeatedly. The skateboarder might break a bone falling on the concrete but the quad-jumper has an incredible impact on their spine and back and legs every time they land on the ice. I look to the parents and coaches to determine what's safe for the skaters. I realize both parents and coachs have their own agendas but it really should fall to the adult in the mix to make the decisions. I'm all for raising the age of "skaters" for eligibility for seniors.

 

[flanker]

And I will. Yes, every human being is different, that's what I agree with. Some can be considered as chihuahuas, some as great danes, but that goes no matter the sport and often even no matter the age. Therefore some can compete as seniors in 15, some have to wait till 18 or even later. That's individual attitude which should be promoted above blanket decisionsfrom the table whenever possible. Again, it's not just skateboarding given as an example (and personal preferences are not what is relevant here), when artistic or rhytmic gymnasts can compete at the olympics at their 16 (two 16 y. o. were the part of the team who won the gold medal today in the artistic team all-around, congrats to them ), then I can hardly see any logic for moving the age eligibility for figure skaters to 17 or even higher. After all, those who suggest that still operate only with their feelings "what is right for the world" at best.

 

[wakuwaku]

I really don't think you can compare different sports - skate boarding vs. figure skating? That's like comparing chihuahuas and great danes.

Well, they are both judged individual sports. They are both similar in importance of trick jumps and athletes body weight. So some common ground there exists.

The skateboarder might break a bone falling on the concrete but the quad-jumper has an incredible impact on their spine and back and legs every time they land on the ice. I look to the parents and coaches to determine what's safe for the skaters. I realize both parents and coachs have their own agendas but it really should fall to the adult in the mix to make the decisions. I'm all for raising the age of "skaters" for eligibility for seniors.

You are saying it like junior training and competitions is a safe heaven and senior skating is injuries-filled hell ) And 17 y.o. senior skater now, suffering from injuries presumably because of their senior status - by labeling that age as 'junior' would miraculously heals from all accumulated health issues ))
So, am I right in assumption that you - just for example - would never send your hypothetical 15 y.o. talented skating daughter to OG - prefering her getting usual dose of injuries couple of more years in status of junior instead of senior - just to.. 'protect' her?

 

[noskates]

Well sir or madam - I watched my 16 year old son play rugby and learned how to butterfly bandages and stop bleeding so I'm hardly immune to injuries. Sports have a limited time span - your legs and back have to last you a lifetime. I don't think juniors are a safe haven and they're getting more and more dangerous because the youngsters are trying to do jumps their bodies might not be ready for. (And I still think skateboarding is a lot safer than figure skating.) Not sure what your point is because the post is kind of rambling. The point I was trying to make, however, is that not all bodies develop at the same time. I would hazard a guess that most 13 and 14 year olds don't quite have the muscular development or bone strength that a 16 or 17 year old has. And that it's up to parents and a lot of responsibility on the coaches to determine WHEN it's safe to do quads, etc. Safety should be more important than a medal. It really doesn't matter what sport a person plays unless you consider poker a sport - there is always the chance of an injury. BUT, I still maintain it's up to parents and coaches to minimize the risk!!! Please don't make assumptions - even hypothetically. I would hope we all want the same thing - skaters, et.al. who have long and successful careers free from injury and life-lasting harm.

 

[FelineFairy]

I really don't think you can compare different sports - skate boarding vs. figure skating? That's like comparing chihuahuas and great danes. The impact on the individual's body is wayyyy different. And each human being, no matter their gender, is different. Some people mature physically faster than others. A 13 yr old riding a skateboard down a railing is totally different than a 13 yr old trying to land quads repeatedly. The skateboarder might break a bone falling on the concrete but the quad-jumper has an incredible impact on their spine and back and legs every time they land on the ice. I look to the parents and coaches to determine what's safe for the skaters. I realize both parents and coachs have their own agendas but it really should fall to the adult in the mix to make the decisions. I'm all for raising the age of "skaters" for eligibility for seniors.

I cannot understand the logical connection between the statements in your post. Do I miss something, could you please explain?
Statement 1 - skateboarding and figure skating are not similar.
I agree.
Statement 2 - human bodies are different.
I agree.
Statement 3 - quad jumpers have strong impact on the spine and legs during landing that jump.
I agree.
As I see from these three statements, the conclusion should be: to prevent harm to those bodies which are not ready to meet the harmful landings of quads, coaches and parents should be careful and make correct decisions about the age when it is OK to jump quads regularly. With this conclusion, I would immediately agree.
I would even understand if the conclusion was that quads should be banned. I wouldn't agree, but I can see and respect the logic behind it.

But your conclusion is different. You conclude that because of all that, eligibility age for seniors should be raised. This just doesn't seem to be logical at all. How does the age limit influence the difference of bodies? Small girls and tall girls, well-muscled legs and thin legs are possible at 14 and at 17, at 12 and at 20. How is the quad Lutz landing more dangerous for a 15-yr. old senior Alysa than for the same 15-yr. old but junior Alysa? Being seniors or juniors, these girls and boys are still under age, and adults make decisions for them regardless of the junior or senior status. Is there something I miss here?
I am not discussing other arguments for raising the age, as they are not mentioned in your post. Just that connection: body harm and senior status.

 

[el henry]

I cannot understand the logical connection between the statements in your post. Do I miss something, could you please explain?
Statement 1 - skateboarding and figure skating are not similar.
I agree.
Statement 2 - human bodies are different.
I agree.
Statement 3 - quad jumpers have strong impact on the spine and legs during landing that jump.
I agree.
As I see from these three statements, the conclusion should be: to prevent harm to those bodies which are not ready to meet the harmful landings of quads, coaches and parents should be careful and make correct decisions about the age when it is OK to jump quads regularly. With this conclusion, I would immediately agree.
I would even understand if the conclusion was that quads should be banned. I wouldn't agree, but I can see and respect the logic behind it.

But your conclusion is different. You conclude that because of all that, eligibility age for seniors should be raised. This just doesn't seem to be logical at all. How does the age limit influence the difference of bodies? Small girls and tall girls, well-muscled legs and thin legs are possible at 14 and at 17, at 12 and at 20. How is the quad Lutz landing more dangerous for a 15-yr. old senior Alysa than for the same 15-yr. old but junior Alysa? Being seniors or juniors, these girls and boys are still under age, and adults make decisions for them regardless of the junior or senior status. Is there something I miss here?
I am not discussing other arguments for raising the age, as they are not mentioned in your post. Just that connection: body harm and senior status.

Let me jump in, because I think I understand the point that @noskates was trying to make, and if not, they can correct me.

The point was also made that there is a difference between the bodies of a 13 year old and a 14 year old and a 16 year old and a 17 year old. I think we would agree. And that the goal is for skaters to have long and healthy careers. I don't know how much folks agree on that.

I would argue that raising the age for seniors would assist in that laudable goal. Following the men, I see how they don't rush quads, how they take their time (for the most part) and how it helps them, IMO, have long and healthy careers.

If a skater is a wonderful skater at 15, she should be a wonderful skater at 16 (and 17 and 18). The other arguments: dreams of Olympic gold, cost of training, etc, also mean less to me compared to health). What is there to be afraid of in raising the age?

Is it a perfect metric? No. Will young skaters still train some quad jumps? Sure (although I have never ever understood the "but they're going to train the jumps anywaaaaay" argument for supporting *not* raising the age, so I guess I'm missing something). But from my point of view, it is better to err on the side of caution.