New US generation of ladies every four years

[Reginald]

I think that is is eerily interesting that American "generations" of skating seem to go every four years. The skaters of a single are born within a four year time period, and a new generation emerges each summer olympic year.

For example

Born 1979-1982 Emerged in 1996 with Kwan and Lipinski making big headlines.
Michelle Kwan
Tara Lipinski
Nicole Bobek
Sydne Vogel

Olympic Gold Medals: 1

World Chanpionships: 6

US Championships: 11

Grand Prix Final Titles: 3

Four Continents Titles: 0



Born 1983-1986 (Baby Ballerinas)
Sasha Cohen
Sarah Hughes
Angela Nikodinov
Jenny Kirk
Naomi Nari Nam

Emerged in 2000 with Cohen, Hughes, Nikodov, Kirk, and Nam 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 8th at US senior Nationals

Olympic Gold Medals: 1

World Chanpionships: 0

US Championships: 1

Grand Prix Final Titles: 1

Four Continents Titles: 2




Born 1987-1990
Kimmie Meissner (part of the three Chickets)
Alyssa Czzney
Katy Taylor (part of the three Chircklets)
Emily Hughes

Emerged in 2004 with Chicklets Meissner and Taylor being a relavant story at Junior worlds


Olympic Gold Medals: 0

World Championships: 1

US Championships: 3

Grand Prix Final Titles: 1

Four Continents Titles: 2




Born 1991-1994 (Teen Titans)
Rachel Flat
Caroline Zhang
Mirai Nagasu
Ashley Wagner
Agnes Zadwaski
Christina Gao

Emerged in 2008 big time with Nagasu, Flatt, Wagner, and Zhang taking top four spots at Senior Nationals. Note here. I do not consider Gao and Zadawski to be a part of "the next generation" since they are only one year younger than Nagasu, the best skater of "the current generation"


Olympic Gold Medals: 0

World Chanpionships: 0

US Championships: 2

Grand Prix Final Titles: 0

Four Continents Titles: 0



Born 1995-1998 set to emerge this upcoming season!
Vanessa Lam born in 1995 california
Leah Keisner born in 1997 californa September 13, 1997
Gracie Gold born in 1995 from Missouri
Hannah Miller
Angela Wang
Nina Jiang born April 17, 1997 Sugarland, Texas

The real next generation. Full of promise. Everthing is great when you're young.


Olympic Gold Medals: 0

World Chanpionships: 0

US Championships: 0

Grand Prix Final Titles: 0

Four Continents Titles: 0



Clearly, all the generations are about equal (with those born from 1979-1982 having Kwanflation).

Any comments?

 

[MoonlightSkater]

Don't forget Courtney Hicks in the "new generation."

It seems that some skaters stay around longer than just one four year cycle. We first saw Michelle Kwan at 1994 nationals, and she competed past the 2002 Olympics, a span of more than eight years. Sasha was around 2000-2006, and then tried to come back for 2010. Bebe Liang was around for... a really long time. Alyssa was in the running for the 2006 season, and she's still skating. I think it's a bit more complex than just every four years.

 

[blue_idealist]

Besides Taylor and Meissner, who is the other chicklet?

 

[MoonlightSkater]

Wasn't Danielle Kahle the other Chicklet? Or was she a "baby ballerina?"

 

[blue_idealist]

Wasn't Danielle Kahle the other Chicklet? Or was she a "baby ballerina?"

It probably was her, because I remember her being associated with Meissner and Taylor in conversations about US ladies a lot at that time. I almost forget what her skating was like though..

 

[MoonlightSkater]

I thought it was Bebe, Taylor, and Kahle, actually.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

That's quite a compilation, Reginald. I'm not sure what one can do with this information.

 

[fairly4]

the born 1979 bit
okay to start that late
but you have to add kristi, tonya, nancy, dorothy, carol, linda, tiffany, deb, peggy, tenley, maribel, theresa blanchard, laurence, barbara roles
sonya klopter, yvonne sherman, gretchen merill, rosalyn, jill, elaine, janet, julie lynn
who was born before 1979
kristi, tonya, nancy. jill
tiffany deb, rosalyn, elaine,
dorothy, linda, janet, julie lynn
peggy
carol , barbara
tenely, sonya, virgina baxter
gretchen, yvonne
maribel, theresa, beatrix
they won world medals, world championship, national titles, olympic gold silver and bronze and they was between 15-21 when they did it
i don't remember them numbers off hand but they won a lot and started this for the U.S.

 

[Sylvia]

Born 1995-1998 set to emerge this upcoming season!
Vanessa Lam born in 1995 california
Leah Keisner born in 1997 californa September 13, 1997
Gracie Gold born in 1995 from Missouri
Hannah Miller
Angela Wang
Nina Jiang born April 17, 1997 Sugarland, Texas

The real next generation. Full of promise. Everthing is great when you're young.

Note the correct spelling of Leah Keiser's last name (Keiser) - she was the 2010 US Novice ladies champion.

I personally think it's better to be more inclusive when it comes to the "next generation" born 1995-1998, so I would list the following (not meant to be a comprehensive list):

Vanessa Lam (born June 1995) S7 at 2011 US Nationals
Gracie Gold (August 1995) N4 in 2010
Courtney Hicks (Dec. 1995) J1 in 2011
Mariah Bell (April 1996) N3
Lauren Dinh (May 1996) J2
Katarina Kulgeyko (May 1996) J3
Yasmin Siraj (July 1996) S8
Angela Wang (July 1996) J7 in 2010
Barbie Long (Sept. 1996) N2
Hannah Miller (Oct. 1996) N1
Nina Jiang (April 1997) J9
Leah Keiser (Sept. 1997) N1 in 2010
Polina Edmunds (May 1998) J7

Competing SR in US this season: Lam, Siraj, Hicks, Dinh, Wang, Jiang, Keiser (the last 2 may not have tested Sr. yet)
Competing JR in US this season: Kulgeyko, Edmunds, Gold, Miller, Long, Bell

 

[Mathman]

I beilieve that Kimmie Meissner, Katy Taylor, and Danielle Kahle got the name "Chicklets" at 2004 junior worlds, where they finished 2nd, 3rd and 11trh. (Maybe they chomped on chicklets at the event?) Miki Ando won.

I thibk the Baby Ballerinas" were so-named by Dick Button at 2000 U.S. Nationals (or maybe 1999 U.S. Nationals, even though Sasha did not compete that year). Sasha Cohen, Naomi Nari Nam and Sarah Hughes.

 

[gkelly]

I think that is is eerily interesting that American "generations" of skating seem to go every four years. The skaters of a single are born within a four year time period, and a new generation emerges each summer olympic year.

For example

Born 1979-1982 Emerged in 1996 with Kwan and Lipinski making big headlines.
Michelle Kwan
Tara Lipinski
Nicole Bobek
Sydne Vogel

Bobek was born in 1977. And one could argue that she started "emerging" in 1993 (same year Kwan first made a splash at Nationals) or even as early as 1991.

Lisa Ervin, same age, definitely made a splash with a pewter medal at 1992 Nationals, not to mention all her Junior Worlds silvers, but was done by 1994.

Born 1983-1986 (Baby Ballerinas)
Sasha Cohen
Sarah Hughes
Angela Nikodinov
Jenny Kirk
Naomi Nari Nam

Nikodinov was born in 1980.

Obviously Olympic cycles play a significant role in the competitive cycles of the top skaters, and it is typical for female singles skaters to peak in their mid to late teens, often first to get noticed in early teens. So if they win big while still in high school it's pretty common to retire at that point and move on to adult life (college and/or pro skating). Even moreso in the days when competition was strictly for amateurs and it made financial sense to quit while one was ahead rather than continuing to fund training expenses with no immediate income.

Similarly, skaters who don't win big by 17 or 18 and don't expect to also tend to move on with their lives at that age.

But then there are others who really start to come into their own for a few years or longer starting about that age (e.g., Bobek, Nikodinov, Czisny) and keep competing into early or mid-20s or longer.

And then there's Kwan who was motivated and able to sustain high-level results for over a decade, which is unusual even for the top skaters.

So the 4-year generations are indeed a recognizable phenomenon, but there are also exceptions and overlaps.

 

[mskater93]

In the group of lady skaters, you missed Katia Shpilband (yes, that's her dad). I believe she was born in 1996 or 1997. She's competing Junior this season. I saw her two weeks ago at Grand Rapids Open and was pleasantly surprised at the improvement from last season (MW J5) to current. She got two triple Lutzes called and a triple flip. She (not surprisingly) has awesome edge quality and beautiful "float" across the ice, nice speed and centering (and yes, flexibility) on her spins and the step sequence was AMAZING for a first time out competing the program. Nothing looks labored (she did look a little tired with about 30 seconds left to go) and she's very polished-looking for a Junior. With a number of negative GOEs on her jumps due to silly mistakes, she pulled in a 48.33 in her SP (doubled the Lutz out of steps) and an 85.12 in her LP (two foots and hand-downs on several jumps).

 

[blue dog]

In the group of lady skaters, you missed Katia Shpilband (yes, that's her dad). I believe she was born in 1996 or 1997. She's competing Junior this season. I saw her two weeks ago at Grand Rapids Open and was pleasantly surprised at the improvement from last season (MW J5) to current. She got two triple Lutzes called and a triple flip. She (not surprisingly) has awesome edge quality and beautiful "float" across the ice, nice speed and centering (and yes, flexibility) on her spins and the step sequence was AMAZING for a first time out competing the program. Nothing looks labored (she did look a little tired with about 30 seconds left to go) and she's very polished-looking for a Junior. With a number of negative GOEs on her jumps due to silly mistakes, she pulled in a 48.33 in her SP (doubled the Lutz out of steps) and an 85.12 in her LP (two foots and hand-downs on several jumps).

If I'm not mistaken, her mom is Veronika Pershina? What genes!

Also, forgotten on the list are Lauren Dinh and Katya Kulgeyko.

 

[Sylvia]

In the group of lady skaters, you missed Katia Shpilband (yes, that's her dad). I believe she was born in 1996 or 1997.

Actually, I WAS thinking of including her because she has one of the top 5 Junior ladies total scores in Scoretracker (US club competitions) so far this season:
Barbie Long 143.57 (Springfield FSC) Broadmoor Open
Gracie Gold 139.99 (Springfield FSC) Northern Blast
Hannah Miller 135.82 (Lansing SC) Ann Arbor Springtime
Katia Shpilband 133.45 (Arctic FSC) Grand Rapids Open
Mariah Bell 132.43 (Rocky Mountain FSC) Ann Arbor Springtime

I didn't include Shpilband because I wasn't sure of her birth month/year (1996 is probably correct) and she just missed qualifying for 2011 US Nationals in Novice last year (she was the 2010 Intermediate Ladies champion). Mids Junior ladies is looking very deep again this year (Gold was 6th in Jr. at Mids last year) and one of the top 5 listed above will not qualify for 2012 Nationals if they all stay Junior and in the Midwestern section...

ETA:

If I'm not mistaken, her [Shpilband's] mom is Veronika Pershina?

Yes, Pershina skated pairs for the Soviet Union with Marat Akbarov and they were the 1985 European bronze medalists and 1979 World Junior champions.

Also, forgotten on the list are Lauren Dinh and Katya Kulgeyko.

They're both on my list.