ISU takes one further step towards raising the age limit

[Lipinski boy]

If raising the age limit means they learn a sustainable technique, one that can used at a healthy skating weight, post puberty, well, raising the age limit,

One way to push the sport is jumps. Another way is amazing choreo. Another way is beautiful, flexible spins. Another way is skating skills with deep edges and complete control. I celebrate all those ways to push the sport.

And if any country chooses to train in a way that their skaters have one good senior year, or no good senior years, or don't learn to push the sport in all these various ways, well, so be it, that's too bad, but not a reason to keep the age limit as is now.

Another question: isn't this proposal favored to pass?

exactly. ever since the early 2000s, I noticed a negative change in men’s figure skating, where the emphasis became “all about the jumps.” If I was the ISU, I would put less emphasis on jumps and return to the glamorous side of the sport: spins, choreo, musical interpretation, etc.

Some of the candidates for the new ISU president has me excited because they seem to favor big changes with the ISU and the way this sport is run. So I echo your question. Is this proposal favored to pass? (As well as many other proposals?)

 

[alimak]

If raising the age limit means they learn a sustainable technique

I don't know what the heck "sustainable technique" is, cuz i see Kihira can't compete anymore after 3 senior seasons because of injuries while Trusova and Shcherbakova doing multiple quads after 3 senior seasons.

 

[Amei]

I don't know what the heck "sustainable technique" is, cuz i see Kihira can't compete anymore after 3 senior seasons because of injuries while Trusova and Shcherbakova doing multiple quads after 3 senior seasons.

This is where I think the rest of the world was so short-sighted and probably what has led to injuries among some of the senior ladies - I think everyone saw teeny-tiny Shcherbakova and Trusova doing quads as juniors and thought the jumps would never survive for too long or if they grew too much and banked on that. I don't remember anyone talking about seriously training quads/triple axels until mid-2019 season even though neither 1 of them were shy that quads were going to be attempted when they made it as a senior for 1-2 years prior.

 

[Tolstoj]

I don't know what the heck "sustainable technique" is, cuz i see Kihira can't compete anymore after 3 senior seasons because of injuries while Trusova and Shcherbakova doing multiple quads after 3 senior seasons.

Pre and post puberty technique is more what you need to look at, the body of a woman vs a girl.

Puberty means also sudden growth and a process of adjusting the technique, it takes time and you can't just recycle the technique these girls learnt from the start, especially if it is based solely on fast rotation.

At 16-17, you can still slow down puberty and hold for a season or two with a girl's body which is why the decision to raise the age limit goes in the right direction but until they raise it to 18, not much will change.

 

[alimak]

Pre and post puberty technique is more what you need to look at, the body of a woman vs a girl.

Puberty means also sudden growth and a process of adjusting the technique, it takes time and you can't just recycle the technique these girls learnt from the start, especially if it is based solely on fast rotation.

At 16-17, you can still slow down puberty and hold for a season or two with a girl's body which is why the decision to raise the age limit goes in the right direction but until they raise it to 18, not much will change.

Trusova will turn 18 in a month. Do you think she will lose all her quads this summer or you are considering her as prepubescent?

 

[Amei]

Trusova will turn 18 in a month. Do you think she will lose all her quads this summer or you are considering her as prepubescent?

And next year when 18 year old Trusova and Shcherbakova are jumping quads the "puberty/body changes" line will move again

 

[alimak]

And next year when 18 year old Trusova and Shcherbakova are jumping quads the "puberty/body changes" line will move again

I guess formula for the senior eligibility should always be "Trusova/Shcherbakova age + 1 year".

 

[Tolstoj]

Trusova will turn 18 in a month. Do you think she will lose all her quads this summer or you are considering her as prepubescent?

Is judging still going to ratify that many quads that were cheated as they did at the Olympics? cause that could grant more "successful" landings.

For Trusova it's more likely she'll get injured by attempting that many quads and the 3a which she never landed successfully in competition. Shcherbakova seems more at risk of losing the jumps to me, she often looked exhausted in past competitions. Neither of them will probably make it to the next Olympics.

We saw Medvedeva, Zagitova, Lipnitskaya and how their technique and skating skills aged post Olympics.

It should be stated again, that you can adjust the technique and survive puberty but very few do it in Russia except Tuktamysheva with Mishin (Gubanova too), and if you remember her journey, she went through those seasons without the triple axel, reworking even the triple lutz and other elements, and she had a very good jumping technique to begin so it was more achievable for her than others.

 

[chuckm]

Unless certain things drastically change (and we know what those things are without mentioning them) it's unlikely that we will see Trusova and Scherbakova in ISU competition next season or even the season after that. By that time they will no longer be teenagers but full grown women with all the physical changes that come with maturity.

 

[Arbitrary]

ISU should raise the minimal age for Russian skaters only. Say, around 30y for ladies, 35y for men. The rest of the world may continue business as usual.
It would be only fair.

 

[moriel]

Those changes make me sad for the skaters, as it pushes them for a longer career in a sport that is already unhealthy anywhere the top level.

 

[Alex Fedorov]

I guess formula for the senior eligibility should always be "Trusova/Shcherbakova age + 1 year".

Probably, in 25 years it will be possible to see analytical articles with something like this: "These too young forty-five-year-old little girls are simply not able to show a truly mature women's figure skating. Athletes should be admitted to the Olympics from at least 70 years old."

 

[Alex Fedorov]

I don't know what the heck "sustainable technique" is

I think that "sustainable technique" is today the refusal of quads, tomorrow - the refusal of the triple Axel, the day after tomorrow - the transition to jumps in one or two turns. And ultimately - skating without jumping. Or even just a very sustainable seating behind the edge of rink.

 

[macy]

I think that "sustainable technique" is today the refusal of quads, tomorrow - the refusal of the triple Axel, the day after tomorrow - the transition to jumps in one or two turns. And ultimately - skating without jumping. Or even just a very sustainable seating behind the edge of rink.

this is one of the most ridiculous things i've read on this forum. sustainable technique actually has nothing to do with the difficulty of jumps being performed, it means being taught technique that is reliable, efficient, injury minimizing and lasts throughout a skater's career.