A poster in FSU sai Julia Antipova is having serious illness. Not good at all. Hope she will receive the funding and get well soon.
Polina Tsurskaya FS at Cup of Russia, event I (125.12): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZWVO_2B8Bk&feature=youtu.be (what a jumper!)
Gubanova's FS (121.83): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opKvIunJkkQ&feature=youtu.be
Somehow for me Gubanova in the FS lost the magic she showed in the SP. Her skate was IMO much more junior which one would expect from a 12 year old.
On a funny note, seems like Yagudin sitting next to me in a Sochi lounge.
A poster in FSU sai Julia Antipova is having serious illness. Not good at all. Hope she will receive the funding and get well soon.
I can't stop thinking about her situation. I'm not sure if I should create a thread in the main forum or not. It is in the news now and I know readers here would wish her well...
Good points. I believe some of the young female Russian skaters may consider switching countries in the next couple of years and I don't blame them. If Adelina keeps skating through 2018 there won't be enough room for all of the top girls.Can't wait for that ice dance entertainment to happen and-
I actually start to think that it's very unfortunate that they all compete for Russia!
In the end Yulia/Adelina/Elena will dominate in MOST events, maybe Pogo also, and even out of these 4 incredible girls there'll always be one or two who can't go to a certain competition!
And these incredible talents like Serafima or Alexandra(her speed and spins are just wow) won't get all the opportunities because they are simply lacking experience in comparison so Yulia or Adelina!
If Adelina would have wanted to go to World's, Anna wouldn't even have got this chance and look how amazing she was!!
What I'm saying is that there are many huge talents that would be the number one skater in other countries, but will be overshadowed and will "drown" in the deep Russian waters
Good points. I believe some of the young female Russian skaters may consider switching countries in the next couple of years and I don't blame them. If Adelina keeps skating through 2018 there won't be enough room for all of the top girls.
My view is that somehow working around 3-spot only rule is a better option than forcing skaters who are proud of being Russian and are willing to compete for Russia to change their citizenship.
Yulia was smiling much more back then. hwell:My guess is only one or two of the juniors go to seniors next year. Whoever doesn't win Gold at JWC will likely stay junior and try for it again in the following year. Maybe both Evgenia and Serafima go but I'm not sure of it.
From a few years back
https://pp.vk.me/c624329/v624329904/1934/SCHbbeUnPXg.jpg
https://pp.vk.me/c540109/c540105/v540105393/1cc2a/RCdUwlESjNU.jpg
https://pp.vk.me/c624329/v624329904/193c/PmLGIOto7fA.jpg
The thing is they haven't gone through puberty yet. It's undeniable that they are all talented. But until puberty hit them, we can tell nothing for sure.I am at loss here. Of course, I want that all of them had a chance to get to the European or the World's podium. On the other hand, the flag matters. Otherwise, they would not impose the 3 spot rule in the first place. And then will their switching the country help the new country to build FS? I doubt - they will just take whatever spots they earn for this country without any likelihood of local follow-up. It is similar to footbal. We had many highly-paid foreign players in Russia. It helped neither our national team nor the sport in general here. And will Sakhanovich and Medvedeva not degenerate leaving Eteri? What about a "swiss skater" Anna Ovcharova? I understand she showed some promise. But her skate during the last worlds was just lamentable.
Next year the "fantastic four" could still sit in juniors "harassing" everybody else. But then I don't know what they will do. What I know is that quite soon the 3 spot rule will be hurting figure skating, namely the ladies' figure skating reducing its quality. May be ISU will do something when the Russian nationals become the most competitive and the highest quality event of the season.
The thing is they haven't gone through puberty yet. It's undeniable that they are all talented. But until puberty hit them, we can tell nothing for sure.
My point is, the current rule might be against these young ladies. Right now they are 14, next year when they are 15 and goes senior, if their bodies will not change much then I am glad for them. If puberty hit them in that year, it will be harder.Except many female skaters are very competitive before they go through 'full puberty'. According to an article on the University of Maryland website, most girls complete puberty by 17 http://umm.edu/health/medical/ency/articles/puberty-and-adolescence
Look at Elena/Julia (2 skaters that started competing at the GP level at 14) and 1 of which went to all the major competitions at 15 (and received some type of medal) - even if at 17 they develop lots of curves and retire that doesn't diminish their accomplishments that they got on the senior circuit.