2018 Worlds Ladies FS

[Mango]

As for Alina, I wish her the best. It's tough, when the body starts changing and betrays you. I just wish I had confidence in her coaches and her federation - that they would not kick her to the curb in favor of the next best young thing (of which they have so many in the pipeline), if she doesn't adjust quickly to her changing body.

She'll need a lot of support to go through growth spurts, and I just hope she gets it from them. Wouldn't it be nice if we got a mature Russian skater like Costner, or at least like some Canadians, Americans, or Japanese - in terms of their LONGEVITY?

For fans (and skaters, I imagine), it's not fun when the federation goes through their skaters like through disposable napkins: next, next, next...

There is one in Alena Leonova but she isn't able to make it to events like Euros or Worlds any more because of the depth of Russian ladies.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

There is one in Alena Leonova but she isn't able to make it to events like Euros or Worlds any more because of the depth of Russian ladies.

It’s been amazing the way she kept getting two GP spots though. She just kept fighting and staying in the game.

 

[Mango]

It’s been amazing the way she kept getting two GP spots though. She just kept fighting and staying in the game.

I'm sure we must acknowledge the federations who invite her as well.

But Casual does bring up a good point. Where is the longevity in Russian ladies skating?

 

[largeman]

It’s been amazing the way she kept getting two GP spots though. She just kept fighting and staying in the game.

Sam, I only noticed it just now - your new panda is doing the same pose as Wakaba's FS opening pose (just opposite direction). :thumbsup:

 

[Shayuki]

But Casual does bring up a good point. Where is the longevity in Russian ladies skating?

If the younger age groups are better at everything, where do the older skaters get the federation support or even the motivation to keep pushing themselves? It could be too much to ask for a skater to dedicate their low 20s into a sport where they might no longer even get an international appearance. Compare this situation to Kostner or even Osmond / Daleman with no challengers in sight and full confidence that they can just take their time.

 

[Osmond4gold]

Sam, I only noticed it just now - your new panda is doing the same pose as Wakaba's FS opening pose (just opposite direction). :thumbsup:

Still looking forward to seeing Sam's Maple Leaf Panda! Excited here like a kid at Christmas...how many more sleeps?

 

[millie]

If the younger age groups are better at everything, where do the older skaters get the federation support or even the motivation to keep pushing themselves? It could be too much to ask for a skater to dedicate their low 20s into a sport where they might no longer even get an international appearance. Compare this situation to Kostner or even Osmond / Daleman with no challengers in sight and full confidence that they can just take their time.

(

If this trend continues, it will take the fun and pleasure out of watching figure skating. The era where you would watch your favourite skate come up through the system and grow and get better will be in the past....Witt, Kwan, Slutskaya, Manley etc. Most of the young skaters coming up now will either be one hit wonders or will not survive the sport due to injuries. The joy of watching Figure Skating in general not the jumps will be the thing of the past. Unless they change the rules with regards to age limits, things will only regress. That’s all you hear is about it’s the quads, quad quads. Times they are a changing! For the good or the bad, who knows!

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Still looking forward to seeing Sam's Maple Leaf Panda! Excited here like a kid at Christmas...how many more sleeps?

But I won the bet. The avatar is for you. I thought Gabby would struggle to finish top 6 and would put an avatar bet on it. You took the bet. It’s up to you whether you use it or not but I didn’t lose. That’s why I said I was pulling for Gabby to prove me wrong

 

[Osmond4gold]

But I won the bet. The avatar is for you. I thought Gabby would struggle to finish top 6 and would put an avatar bet on it. You took the bet. It’s up to you whether you use it or not but I didn’t lose. That’s why I said I was pulling for Gabby to prove me wrong

Geezs Sam, pm as I remember the bet differently and thought I won in all honesty.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

(

If this trend continues, it will take the fun and pleasure out of watching figure skating. The era where you would watch your favourite skate come up through the system and grow and get better will be in the past....Witt, Kwan, Slutskaya, Manley etc. Most of the young skaters coming up now will either be one hit wonders or will not survive the sport due to injuries. The joy of watching Figure Skating in general not the jumps will be the thing of the past. Unless they change the rules with regards to age limits, things will only regress. That’s all you hear is about it’s the quads, quad quads. Times they are a changing! For the good or the bad, who knows!

I’m fine with all kinds of skaters. The more the merrier. There will always be countries where the depth isn’t as strong and because of this we can watch several of our favorites mature if that’s your thing. I’ve never really seen you be too excited about any Russian skaters so I’m not even sure why you’re concerned. Not that I do not welcome it but I’m the one watching my favorite Gubanova get passed over time and time again. I still enjoy her direct competitors though. They all work really hard after all.

Interesting to note the amount of Swiss skaters I’ve really liked retire at 18 or 19 with very little to no local competition. Some people don’t want to continue skating into there 20’s and would rather go to university and create a more stable future for themselves. That’s fine with me. It’s not the most stable and profitable sport for retired athletes. It’s a lot of hard work and commitment to coach and if you’re not an ice show skater...what else is there?

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Geezs Sam, pm as I remember the bet differently and thought I won in all honesty.

I don’t even remember the thread...I swear I said Gabby would struggle to make top six. What do you remember? I’m fine with just letting it go though. I chose the Canadian Panda for you to be nice instead of the Julia one I threatened you with.

 

[millie]

I’m fine with all kinds of skaters. The more the merrier. There will always be countries where the depth isn’t as strong and because of this we can watch several of our favorites mature if that’s your thing. I’ve never really seen you be too excited about any Russian skaters so I’m not even sure why you’re concerned. Not that I do not welcome it but I’m the one watching my favorite Gubanova get passed over time and time again. I still enjoy her direct competitors though. They all work really hard after all.
Interesting to note the amount of Swiss skaters I’ve really liked retire at 18 or 19 with very little to no local competition. Some people don’t want to continue skating into there 20’s and would rather go to university and create a more stable future for themselves. That’s fine with me. It’s not the most stable and profitable sport for retired athletes. It’s a lot of hard work and commitment to coach and if you’re not an ice show skater...what else is there?

Over the years, some of my favourite skaters were Irene Slutskaya, Maria Butyrsksya plus Witt who was the best. It’s not that I dislike Russian skaters, it’s the fact that some of their fans are irritating to the point of no return. SOME of them are down right ignorant when it comes to Canadian skaters ie. Kaetlyn Osmond. I felt so sorry for Alina as a skater because she wasn’t expecting the outcome of Worlds. But on the other hand, I was so happy for Katelyn because of her win and to show that it’s never good to gloth about other skaters misfortunes. It looked good on the faces of the fans of the Russian skaters. PS....Osmond4Gold can back me up......and feels the same way

 

[Casual]

I wonder, would there be less politics with inconsistent judging, and more mature skaters instead of one-day wonders, if we'd have competitions of individual sports clubs, instead of national federations?

This way, if you're from North Korea but train in Canada, you'd represent the individual Canadian club and coach that trains you, not Kim Jong Un.

Or would it lead to just as much politicking and manipulation, but by influential coaches/clubs instead of federations?

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Over the years, some of my favourite skaters were Irene Slutskaya, Maria Butyrsksya plus Witt who was the best. It’s not that I dislike Russian skaters, it’s the fact that some of their fans are irritating to the point of no return. SOME of them are down right ignorant when it comes to Canadian skaters ie. Kaetlyn Osmond. I felt so sorry for Alina as a skater because she wasn’t expecting the outcome of Worlds. But on the other hand, I was so happy for Katelyn because of her win and to show that it’s never good to gloth about other skaters misfortunes. It looked good on the faces of the fans of the Russian skaters. PS....Osmond4Gold can back me up......and feels the same way

Well there are fans from all over that can become rather overzealous. All we can do is worry about ourselves and show the positive side of our favorites. I felt a lot of heat as a Yulia fan back in 2013. The main reason I started posting in the first place was to stand up for her to people who called her names and started thread after thread about how she was overscored, underserving, Gumby, one trick pony, flashes the judges for points, etc...

I always tried to show them that it didn’t bother me and that their negatively reflected more about them. Every so often I’d lose it though. I think all of my infractions were for defending that girl

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I wonder, would there be less politics with inconsistent judging, and more mature skaters instead of one-day wonders, if we'd have competitions of individual sports clubs, instead of national federations?

This way, if you're from North Korea but train in Canada, you'd represent the individual Canadian club and coach that trains you, not Kim Jong Un.

Or would it lead to just as much politicking and manipulation, but by influential coaches/clubs instead of federations?

If the sport could attract sponsors and the skaters instead represented sponsors and those teams were made up based on talent alone that the sponsors discover and made up of skaters from several countries we could see a lot of the manipulation and influence removed. Skaters could continue long after their competitive career and make a reasonable living like they do in other similar small sports. Tours that promote the brand and magazine and social media adverts. Competitions would always matter but wouldn’t be the sole exsistsnce of the sport. Of course the Olympics would always be a national affair and the ISU could keep doing team trophy stuff. It’s never going to happen though. It will always be controlled by the federations and politicized from within the ISU to adapt to the federations always changing wants and desires.

Sometimes it’s best just to find a few skaters to love and direct our focus on their performances. That’s the most rewarding thing the sport has to offer fans. This sport isn’t designed for longevity and almost every competitive skater I’ve ever known finished by 18 with a few exceptions who made the elite level and even they finished in their early 20’s.

 

[millie]

Well there are fans from all over that can become rather overzealous. All we can do is worry about ourselves and show the positive side of our favorites. I felt a lot of heat as a Yulia fan back in 2013. The main reason I started posting in the first place was to stand up for her to people who called her names and started thread after thread about how she was overscored, underserving, Gumby, one trick pony, flashes the judges for points, etc...

I always tried to show them that it didn’t bother me and that their negatively reflected more about them. I think all of my infractions were for defending that girl

With regards to infractions, sometimes I have been hanging on by the shin of my teeth definding Kaetlyn...Yulia was a darling and so is Alina, not her fans lol. I usually root for the underdog.....I pity Alina due to the fact that her coach is not nice. I used stronger words before and got an infraction. I have been watching figure skating for over 50 years. Over the years Canada hasn’t had a lot of skaters that we could root for. Now low and behold we get a little hometown girl to root for..Our Kaetlyn..We have to protect her from all those zealous mean people out there...LOL...

 

[Mango]

If the younger age groups are better at everything, where do the older skaters get the federation support or even the motivation to keep pushing themselves? It could be too much to ask for a skater to dedicate their low 20s into a sport where they might no longer even get an international appearance. Compare this situation to Kostner or even Osmond / Daleman with no challengers in sight and full confidence that they can just take their time.

See this isn't the way skating works in a lot of countries. Like Japan. If Mai and Wakaba and Kaori are doing well that doesn't mean there isn't a place for Satoko. Sui/Han ended up winning junior Worlds three times and missing the Olympics in 2014 because there were senior teams who did not clear the path for them. Pang & Tong even stuck around for 2014-15 and only left after S/H won silver ahead of them at Worlds 2015.

And why are there no international appearances to hope for? The ISU set up the Challenger Series specifically for skaters who perhaps cannot get on the Grand Prix circuit. There is even prize money awarded to the top ranked skaters at the end of the CS.

Honestly if every discipline was like ladies in Russia you'd rarely see good pairs skaters and ice dancers. Those things take time to develop and people keep at it. But if you're not giving people time then you're losing quality and potential.

 

[Osmond4gold]

Over the years, some of my favourite skaters were Irene Slutskaya, Maria Butyrsksya plus Witt who was the best. It’s not that I dislike Russian skaters, it’s the fact that some of their fans are irritating to the point of no return. SOME of them are down right ignorant when it comes to Canadian skaters ie. Kaetlyn Osmond. I felt so sorry for Alina as a skater because she wasn’t expecting the outcome of Worlds. But on the other hand, I was so happy for Katelyn because of her win and to show that it’s never good to gloth about other skaters misfortunes. It looked good on the faces of the fans of the Russian skaters. PS....Osmond4Gold can back me up......and feels the same way

Agreed Millie, that this season was like no other. The more some became part of the conversation for a top 10 or podium placement, the more the ridicule they received, regardless of nationality. While I love to see passion from fans, some of the passion easily got out of hand. A low point for me this year was when a fan wrote, ''the only reason Osmond is relevant is because us haters made her relevant.''. It was sad to see the sport I love reduced to this level. I hope none of us ever get that jaded in life.

Yes, we had some great moments for all nations this year, Russia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Japan, China, Australia, Korea, Uzbekistan, Mexico, USA and Canada to name a few, and it was nice to see that one country did not dominate which gave opportunity for many to create a moment or to podium. In the ladies events, I was happy for Caro, Wakaba, Satoko, Medv. Alina, Maria, Bradie, Mirai, Kaetlyn and Gabby, when they had great skates and pure moments of joy. May we continue to enjoy this sport, these athletes and I wish all could have a ''Wakaba, Zagitova or an Osmond moment'', at least once in their skating lives.

 

[largeman]

I don’t even remember the thread...I swear I said Gabby would struggle to make top six. What do you remember? I’m fine with just letting it go though. I chose the Canadian Panda for you to be nice instead of the Julia one I threatened you with.

Um, you two, hello?

Am I the only one who cares?

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Um, you two, hello?

Am I the only one who cares?

Lol..... I thought the bet was for the WC and it was the olympics