Sunday 3 June 2012

Ode to the "future champions"

                                                                The perfect examples of premature hype 

Although all three of the ladies above have done exceptionally well on the junior level, it still pains me to see people crowning any them the 2014 Olympic champion so soon.



                                                        Reasons not to get too excited


1. Gracie has basically next to no polish and has very empty programs. She looks rather rushed and edgy (not in a good way)at points.

2. Julia is absolutely tiny meaning a horrifying puberty is inevitable (unless she's destined to become some sort of midget lady). Also her technique on her axel is rather scary(what is it with junior ladies and subpar double axels), she gets no height, she literally kicks her free leg forwards rather then up and right now it gets her enough height but later when she gets heavier it'll be a problem. Plus her layback is quite mediocre other then the biellmann position which is hyper-extended to the point of being ugly. 

3. Adelina, despite being my favourite of the three, is having a terrible year. Not results wise but I can't see any confidence in her anymore. She also has a severe problem with making silly mistakes such as the combination spin at junior worlds. Another problem is her Liebesträume long program displays how much she needs better choreography, Bolero was ok-ish.


                                                   Reasons to get reasonably excited


1.Gracie, whilst lacking in polish, has great technique and has had incredible consistency on her triple-triples, which are very difficult ones at that. She also seems to be very stable as a skater and looks to have finished growing.

2. Julia may not have too much growing to do, she could indeed become a midget woman(or something close). Her spins are great and her jumps are very consistent. On the artistry side even though I would like to see more general stretch and tension in the basic skating she does have good posture, and if she could let something other then pointless arm movements and putting her foot over her head be in her choreography she could be a rather scary force to deal with.

3.Adelina has the most polish in my opinion but thats not saying much. She has good spins when they're working and when she gets it right, her triple lutz-triple loop looks effortless(i.e junior worlds). I'm pretty sure if she could get her confidence back and gets better choreography she could totally dominate ladies skating.




                                                                                               Overall


Overall I feel these ladies have a lot to admire, but they still have a long way to go in terms of growing and improving their general polish. Gracie to me seems to be the most stable of the three. Adelina may be unpredictable right now, but when I watch Julia I feel like she's a ticking time bomb ready to explode into a fully grown lady who will struggle severely with her jumps. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva may not have been at worlds, but I feel she's the safest bet of all the junior ladies as she has buckets of personality and confidence in combination with flawless technique, the only thing getting in her way is the flip.
I do  think its ok to get excited about them, but i wouldn't start betting on their gold medal at Sochi quite yet.

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