If you remember correctly, GOE wasn't particularly inflated until 2009 when everyone started getting 130+ for 4 triples. The new rule adjust the total score back down to pre-2009. Shiz didn't even get as good a score as Laura Lepisto at their respective Olympics. So Flatt and Zhang did not receive generous and inflated score for their events.Flatt and Zhang got those scores before the GOE had been altered and there were still spirals, and also the competition wasn't as steep. Surely if Liza and Adelina were to skate in the same competition as junior Flatt and Zhang, they'd not Flatt and Zhang down a few pegs just by comparison. They are superior to Flatt and Zhang on every level and if we're talking about Christina, at this point, she'd definitely far superior to Zhang. Flatt has managed to maintain her position as one of the top US ladies which is impressive so really the fact that she won Jr. Worlds just proves what a good competitor she is.
She's no where near Kostner. Kostner at her age got PCS like a seasoned medal contender. Kostner's jumps were gorgeous. The landing on most of Shelepen's jumps are crashy and awkward. Notice her GOE is almost 0 for all of her jumps. More and more jr girls are passing her by. At the senior level, she's hopeless.Shelepen is a bit of a mess right now but she has all the tools she needs to be a top contender in coming years. She just needs to get adjusted to her new body, get a real choreographer, clean up her spins, and skate to music/get programs that accentuate her long limbed physique and make her seem graceful and balletic instead of gangly. Her look is really very similar to that of Kostner as a teenager, and if she could emulate Kostner in her skating as well, then she could be great.
This, I agree.Gao like Polina just needs to learn how to use her new body to make her skating look more elegant instead of awkward and ungainly, and that will come in time, because already this season she's a lot smoother and mature in her skating compared to last season. Her spins still need work but they are improving and I'm sure she'll continue to work on that, and at least she's getting her levels.
Things can change a lot over the course of a season, especially with girls this age, so we might have a very different outlook come this time next year. For now, I'm just excited to see them all skate next season.