Good Question: age limits for men too

Ladskater · Mar 18, 2019

This is a question raised by P.J. Kwong of the CBC. P.J. does the off ice coverage with Kurt Browning and Brenda Irving

Is age restriction for young figure skaters a good thing? Stephen Gogolev is still too young to compete at a Sr. level in the World FS championships, as are other skaters. Good question.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/figureskating/figure-skating-worlds-age-restriction-1.5056748

:think:

Amei · Mar 18, 2019

Not exactly shocking that a Canadian commentator is posing the question given Gogolev. I don't think restricting what young athletes can attempt is necessarily the answer, they would likely still be doing the 'banned' moves but perhaps having to do it in environments less safe than at their rink with coaches.

silver.blades · Mar 19, 2019

I think the age restrictions are a good thing from an psychological standpoint. Too much pressure and exposure on young skaters can have a negative effect on their overall development, not just as skaters, but as people.

ladyjane · Mar 19, 2019

I read this article, and I don't agree with letting age limits go. Why have a junior circuit if you're going to let those little kids take part in senior events? I like watching junior events precisely because of what it is: juniors. This, by the way, is also mentioned by Stong in the article. And guess what? That's exactly where Steven was to be found this season. That certain Countries let their youngsters skate on their national Senior events in my view isn't a reason for letting them do so as well at international events. The discussion about limitations on the tricks you can do in juniors is a whole other issue. Frankly I enjoyed the juniors short programmes because of these restrictions because it was much less of a splattfest as in the free programmes. And it's a way to ensure the youngsters get the basic skills as well before it's all about jumping more and more rotations. And I'm not even mentioning the I'm still a fan of figure skating, not figure jumping! That said, I do like watching junior events but always with a view of watching kids in development, not adults. When I watch the world Champtionships I like to see adults. Young ones maybe (I definitely have a problem with 15-year-olds on the senior circuit), but still adults. I actually wouldn't have a problem with basing the restriction not on age, but on whether the skaters have had their last growth spurt. But I suppose that's just impossible to use as a way to determine the cut between juniors and seniors!

moriel · Mar 19, 2019

silver.blades said:
I think the age restrictions are a good thing from an psychological standpoint. Too much pressure and exposure on young skaters can have a negative effect on their overall development, not just as skaters, but as people.

Watch ladies at russian junior nationals.
I don't see how keeping the girls in juniors longer will reduce pressure on them.

rain · Mar 19, 2019

I'm all for restricting the field in men's as well. I've said the same in other threads of this nature. 16-plus for everyone. I was one (probably of the few) who was totally relieved that Gogolev did not win Canadian nationals. Way too soon. The pressure they're already putting on him is insane. Let him be a junior and develop properly. He's amazing, but there are still a lot of areas that need work before he moves up to the senior ranks. Figure skating is about more than just jumping.

Alexz · Mar 19, 2019

I humbly think age limit in Men should be exactly the same as in Ladies. If we can move those age limits close to each other and have them meet in the middle to one specific number this would be the best. IMO.

gkelly · Mar 19, 2019

Alexz said:
I humbly think age limit in Men should be exactly the same as in Ladies. If we can move those age limits close to each other and have them meet in the middle to one specific number this would be the best. IMO.

The limits already are exactly the same, except for the upper limit for male partners in junior pairs and dance.

Alexz · Mar 19, 2019

gkelly said:
The limits already are exactly the same, except for the upper limit for male partners in junior pairs and dance.

Exactly. So I think we should make 16 y.o. for everyone to enroll into senior level. Singles - both Ladies and Men, Pairs, Dance. Everyone should be at least 16 y.o.

ankifeather · Mar 19, 2019

Age limit doesn't mean much in men right now anyways...Most men turn senior around 17/18 yrs, many stay junior till the limit of 19 yr old. In the past 20 years, of top competing men, who else besides Plushenko and Hanyu turned senior at 15 yr old? Im sure there may be others, I can't remember off the top of my head, since it is rare.

Danibellerika · Mar 19, 2019

I think there should be an age limit, but it's more like I think there should be a lower ceiling, particularly in juniors where I'm seeing these old guys practically needing to be kicked out of juniors. If you're 18 and 19 (aka an adult) and still a junior...you're just too old, imo.

gkelly · Mar 20, 2019

ankifeather said:
Age limit doesn't mean much in men right now anyways...Most men turn senior around 17/18 yrs, many stay junior till the limit of 19 yr old.

True.

In the past 20 years, of top competing men, who else besides Plushenko and Hanyu turned senior at 15 yr old? Im sure there may be others, I can't remember off the top of my head, since it is rare.

Off the top of my head:

Takeshi Honda comes to mind, but that was 23 years ago. Yagudin also competed at 1996 Euros shortly after winning Junior Worlds, but not at Worlds that year (by which time he had turned 16).

Stephane Lambiel.

Probably some skaters from smaller countries who were their federations' only or best option for Worlds and Euros/4Cs even if they weren't competitive there.

Most notably Javier Fernandez, who turned 16 a few weeks after his Worlds debut in 2007. He wasn't even close to qualifying for the freeskate that year, but he did eventually work his way to the top of the podium. (I did look up the age details)

eaglehelang · Mar 20, 2019

ankifeather said:
Age limit doesn't mean much in men right now anyways...Most men turn senior around 17/18 yrs, many stay junior till the limit of 19 yr old. In the past 20 years, of top competing men, who else besides Plushenko and Hanyu turned senior at 15 yr old? Im sure there may be others, I can't remember off the top of my head, since it is rare.

Offhand, Nathan Chen at age 16 was supposed to participate at 2016 WC. If he didnt have to go for hip surgery he would have gone.

Cha Jun Hwan was 16 when he participated in 2018 Olympics

silver.blades · Mar 20, 2019

moriel said:
Watch ladies at russian junior nationals.
I don't see how keeping the girls in juniors longer will reduce pressure on them.

Changing age limits does completely eliminate the pressure. There's not much that can be done about that, however, I still feel there is less pressure on those girls than there would be if they could compete at seniors. If they could compete at the major senior competitions then there would be even more pressure on them to win as those competitions are more prestigious than any of the junior ones. At least if they stay junior, some of the major pressure is transferred to the senior competitors at Worlds and gives some relief to the young kids.

rain said:
I'm all for restricting the field in men's as well. I've said the same in other threads of this nature. 16-plus for everyone. I was one (probably of the few) who was totally relieved that Gogolev did not win Canadian nationals. Way too soon. The pressure they're already putting on him is insane. Let him be a junior and develop properly. He's amazing, but there are still a lot of areas that need work before he moves up to the senior ranks. Figure skating is about more than just jumping.

I am also happy Gogolev didn't win Nationals. I still think Keegan should have beat him. Gogolev is impressive and I have high hopes for what he can do in the future, but his skating skills and spins and even the quality of his jumps aren't quite up to Keegan's standards yet. Give him a couple years and let him have room to make mistakes without the whole country watching and we'll see where he goes. Even if he could compete internationally, he's not a podium threat yet.

sheetz · Mar 20, 2019

If anything the increased technical demands of the sport discourages junior men from moving up until they possess at least one solid quad in their arsenal. It wasn't that long ago that you didn't need a quad to win JWC but now it's almost mandatory.

Amei · Mar 20, 2019

sheetz said:
If anything the increased technical demands of the sport discourages junior men from moving up until they possess at least one solid quad in their arsenal. It wasn't that long ago that you didn't need a quad to win JWC but now it's almost mandatory.

Well it would be pretty sad if the men's field which is considered the more technically difficult discipline didn't have their JWC doing quads when several of the ladies are doing quads.

Good Question: age limits for men too

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~

Amei

silver.blades

ladyjane

moriel

rain

Alexz

gkelly

Alexz

ankifeather

Danibellerika

gkelly

eaglehelang

silver.blades

sheetz

Amei

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