2018 Junior World Championships Mens FS

[anonymoose_au]

He IS a little boy, he just turned 14 two months ago and Matteo and Alexey are grown, 19 and 18 respectedly. They WILL look more mature because they've hit puberty and Artur hasn't. And I for one don't care if he gotten beaten by a girl. Big whoop. She may have a quad but he has a 3a, better spins, skating skills and polish. For him to be on the podium is already a huge accomplishment at his age.

Indeed! Not that Alexandra's skate wasn't impressive as anything, but Artur's skate was also brilliant, he has a lot of musicality! I watched a few of his programs from past seasons and he's definitely got it. I hope he keeps developing his skating skills and jumping, a lot to look forward to!

 

[silverfoxes]

Yes, Alexei got hurt jumping a quad, but skaters get injured all kinds of different ways. He is not the first or last skater who had to withdraw due to injury and it's not always because of a quad. The sport is not going to go backward, the genie is not going back in the bottle. Quads are here to stay. Now, I'm all for punishing messy quads and falls more because I don't think you should attempt them in competition if they aren't reasonably consistent and good quality, and I certainly don't want to see poor quads rewarded. I'd be fine if there was a limit put on them (like 3 in the FS) because I also don't want to see nothing but jumpfests without artistry.

But what Trusova accomplished has nothing to do with what happened in this competition. If she "beat" the boys here today, then is it ok to talk about how the men "beat" the ladies in most every other competition to date? No, it's not.

Seriously, why does everything have to come back to Russian ladies in the most off-topic threads here...I like them myself, but it's so tiresome. The male skaters are just different. There are far less of them, they mature differently, they have different physiques, they are scored differently, etc. This wasn't a great competition for the junior men, but the last few years were very exciting. And quads were a big part of that, like it or not.

 

[Skater Boy]

How is Alexei? Any news? Was it his knee?

 

[Tavi...]

Because this is sport, this is competition. Artistic performances are celebrated in the shows.

I am so tired of comments like this.

Why do you suppose skaters pay thousands of dollars each year to have their competitive programs choreographed, and thousands more for costumes that evoke the character and music of their programs, if “artistic performances” are confined to shows? If only jumps - and more specifically quad jumps - are important in competition, why are spins and step sequences required elements, and why bother to drag 9 judges to the competition so they can score skating skills, transitions, choreography, interpretation of the music, and performance? We could save an awful lot of judges an awful lot of time and energy if those scores are meaningless.

In case you didn’t know, figure skating started when a bunch of rich guys began competing to see who could draw the most intricate and beautiful patterns on the ice with their blades. The sport has evolved to include jumps and other elements, but that’s its history, and that history is preserved by the ISU requirements that (1) skaters use music, and (2) presentation scores are awarded.

And for the record - just in case you were tempted to overlook it - Kostornaia is one of the few skaters currently competing who backloads all her jumps - a feat that, two weeks ago, was good enough to win gold at the Olympics.