Well, then you will have to revise your argument. It‘s not “high and easy“ triples you need to attempt quads, it‘s “consistent“ triples. Which is certainly true but I do hope that we will see more ladies learn a quad who rely on height more than rotation speed.
If you don‘t consider her a stable quadster (which she isn‘t, certainly) then we run into the problem that there ARE no stable quadsters other than Sasha and Anna. Alysa underrorates/downgrades her 4Lz more often than she lands it cleanly as you‘ve made sure to remind us after each of her events during the JGP series. So, two skaters isn‘t nearly enough to make a satisfactory conclusion on the sustainability of quads in ladies. We will, as simple as that, need more time and more ladies attempting quads in competition.
Then again, your original argument is the problem because Alysa definitely does not have high triples. She is a fast rotator, sure. But the problem with that is always that you have to be physically tiny for that technique to work. Jumps like these will be consistent when you‘re young but as soon as you grow, you‘ll have to adjust the technique. And that can be very difficult.
And that‘s exactly the problem I have with the quads that are being landed in ladies at the moment. That there is the perception that you need to be “thin and light“ only. I do not think, or I do not want to think, that the only way for quads to be landed is by rotating insanely fast and being tiny enough to vault your body into the air. Tuktamysheva, if she lands her quads consistently, could prove that theory wrong and I hope she does.
Now, I do not know whether Kaori will get a quad and at the moment I think a 3A might be more attainable. But I hope that, if not her, other ladies who don‘t have that kind of tiny and light body, will land quads.
Did I make it, at any point, seem like I had something against new seniors? I don’t think so. What I was saying was merely that IF quads will only be landed by 15, 16 year olds (juniors and new seniors) in the future, I would not welcome this technical evolution. A sport like this should not be an Olympic sport. This is a very clear “IF“ though and it is perfectly possible that Sasha and Anna will keep landing quads somewhat consistently after they’ve grown. If so, and if other skaters from different nationalities, age and body types catch up, I will accept this technical leap not only as such but as a real progress for this sport. Compare it to the men’s event where it’s not just Russia, Japan and the USA. But it took a while for quads to become as much of a normality as they are now.
For this to happen in the ladies, however, I believe we will have to wait at least a few more years because big changes may happen soon but it takes much longer see the real consequences and effects. That’s not me disliking new seniors, it is me trying to think this through all the way and not just going: “yay! Quads! Progress!“
Well, first of, the discussion was about the height of the quadsters‘ triples, so neither Anna‘s 4Lz nor Tursy‘s 4S are a part of that. In fact, I actually said that it always surprises me that Anna manages to get the height she does on her quads specifically because her triples aren‘t that high.
As for the rest, I’m a bit confused tbh. Do you really mean to tell me that Anna Shcherbakova‘s jumps rely more on height than rotation speed? Because then I‘d have to check my eyes, sorry to say it as drastic as that. I‘m sure she has improved over the years but e.g. at Euros she was in the same warm-up group as Sasha, Aliona, Alexia Paganini and Emmi Peltonen all of whom had much higher jumps than she did. That‘s not saying her jumps don‘t look easy - they can, when she doesn‘t have to do them after attempting three quads and a bunch of other triples. Her 3Lz+3Lo in the SP, while not particularly high, is fast and easy and beautiful. But I would never say that she was known for being a high jumper because she just isn‘t. Now, are her triples the lowest in the field? Certainly not. At the same time, if you look at her triples (and
even the quad despite the better height), it is clear to me that she‘s mostly not jumping from the legs (like Sasha does on her 4T for example) but twists her upper body into the rotation. Someone who does that doesn‘t rely on height to jump, sorry, they rely on being able to rotate very quickly.
For Tursynbaeva, you‘re comparing apples with oranges. I would certainly hope that her 4S was the highest jump in the field, considering that there were no other quad attempts. Otherwise, if it was merely as high as Alina‘s and Zhenya‘s triples, I‘d ask myself about the physics involved, allowing her to even land that jump.
The argument wasn‘t about Tursynbaeva‘s 4S, though, it was her triples. Look at her 3Lz and 3F for example. Are they high and easy? And she hasn‘t been as consistent on her triples as Anna and Sasha have, for example, either.
