It might seem that way, bad foresight and planning, but ....
... these young skaters are still growing, often in spurts, and hands and feet do not grow to the same scheme as the tubular bones in arms and legs.
Boots need to be snug, not too tight and certainly not too loose, for that is not only dangerous for the ankle, knee and leg but also will not produce the best results.
Competition boots and blades these very good skaters ride on are in the range of 800-1400 USD/Euros, and have to be paid for by the skaters themselves. I doubt their parents can spare this kind of money every two-three months in competition season, or have their child at least two pair of equal and fully broken in skates.
Even if the old skates can be traded in or re-sold, new boots need to be broken in, new blades need some re-adjustments by a qualified fitter to achieve that perfect balance and grip or edge. Skaters rather not mess with their skates just before an important event.
So we had Shcherbakova competing in her new boots in JPGF and failing, and in her old and worn boots in RusNats and winning.
Tarakanova's timing of her change of skates was certainly unfortunate, but perhaps she also bit back the pain in her feet in JPGF and RusNats until she could no longer skate in her old boots and had to skip the Talinn event.
Despite robbing us of the chance to see them in action, I'd rather have the skaters not risk their health or falling all over the ice because of their boots not fitting properly.
