Male Junior Worlds medallists - and where are they now?

[lariko]

Well it's the same (or actually worse) story with Erokhov. Junior World Champion with a nice and stable 4T and 4S and then they made him pound that stupid quad flip until he fractured his picking foot three! times in a row. And pooof... his international senior career was gone before it had ever begun. (He's still skating very beautifully in domestic events, just sayin.)

I am a huge fan of quads and multi-quad skaters. For me, it's one of the most exciting things about men's figure skating. But when it comes to a choice between quads and health, I'd rather see the guys skate a few senior seasons with just the baby quads to get used to their adult bodies rather than go all in in their first senior season and aim for the four quad FP. The skaters themselves might disagree though. But that strategy worked pretty well for e.g. Kagiyama.

I am under the impression that Kagiyama is a little bit on the rule-bending side of things.

I also love multi-quads, and I am actually all for multiquadsters getting podiums in both women and men. I just wish Russians specifically stop trusting in the mind-over-body thing and mine for unobtanium until they actually have a guy whose body is not going to stretch out even on broth and rye crackers. Shooting for two men in top ten and three spots would have been doable with quite a few of those guys without charging them with solid multiquad programs. Which, hilariously, only Ignatov had delivered so far.

 

[mrrice]

There have been 5 junior world champions who have gone on to win the Ol;ympic gold medal": Petrenko, Kulik, Yagudin, Plushenko and Hanyu.

It's interesting that OGM winner, Brian Boitano peaked at Bronze at Junior Worlds. Some skaters take longer to develop.

 

[4everchan]

It's interesting that OGM winner, Brian Boitano peaked at Bronze at Junior Worlds. Some skaters take longer to develop.

So did Nathan Chen Bronze at Junior worlds...

 

[skatingfan4ever]

Patrick Chan got only 7th, 6th, and 2nd at Junior Worlds. He won the SP in 2007 but was 4th in the FS and dropped to 2nd overall.

Then he was 9th at his first Senior Worlds, but spent the next five years on the Senior Worlds podium. In 2016 and 2017 he was 5th at Worlds. He is one of those precious few Junior men with a lot of hype who had plenty of Senior success, not just at Worlds but everywhere.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

Patrick is also notable for the length of his Senior career. 2008 to 2018, with 10 Canadian Titles and 8 appearances at Senior Worlds. He also always made the GPF in seasons where he competed in 2 GPs. Some of making the GPF is luck but it shows a certain level of skating and consistency.

I miss Patrick's skating. I wonder when he will skate again, if ever. He wasn't at SOI this year.

 

[lariko]

Uno has World Gold now & 2 Olympic silvers. I think the kid did alright

 

[mrrice]

There have been 5 junior world champions who have gone on to win the Ol;ympic gold medal": Petrenko, Kulik, Yagudin, Plushenko and Hanyu.

Patrick is also notable for the length of his Senior career. 2008 to 2018, with 10 Canadian Titles and 8 appearances at Senior Worlds. He also always made the GPF in seasons where he competed in 2 GPs. Some of making the GPF is luck but it shows a certain level of skating and consistency.

I miss Patrick's skating. I wonder when he will skate again, if ever. He wasn't at SOI this year.

I agree with every word of this post. Whenever I need to boost my mood, I play one of the many clips of Patrick that I have on my PC.

 

[lurkz2]

So did Nathan Chen Bronze at Junior worlds...

The number of years they compete at junior worlds is probably a factor too. I mean Nathan was still eligible to compete at junior worlds the first year he won senior worlds.

 

[4everchan]

The number of years they compete at junior worlds is probably a factor too. I mean Nathan was still eligible to compete at junior worlds the first year he won senior worlds.

the main factor is that there is only one olympic champion every 4 years... but a junior world champion every year... so not all JWC will become OC... not even all SWC will become OC (especially Canadians)... Nathan had a very quick evolution when he added all his exotic quads after his big surgery. I would think that's why his success in seniors compares advantageously to his success in juniors

 

[lurkz2]

the main factor is that there is only one olympic champion every 4 years... but a junior world champion every year... so not all JWC will become OC... not even all SWC will become OC (especially Canadians)... Nathan had a very quick evolution when he added all his exotic quads after his big surgery. I would think that's why his success in seniors compares advantageously to his success in juniors

If Nathan was so fussed over Junior Worlds he could probably have won in 2017, just saying...

 

[4everchan]

If Nathan was so fussed over Junior Worlds he could probably have won in 2017, just saying...

Nobody is saying that Nathan is less the champion he is because he didn't win junior worlds. I am not sure how you are reading my posts. Or maybe I am not reading yours correctly...

Someone pointed out that Boitano "only" won a junior bronze yet won O games... I said, Nathan did the same. Nothing against Nathan here. Figure skating fans knew about Nathan Chen even before he reached junior eligibility. Junior worlds is a funny animal... a year or two at such a young age can make a lot of difference, so skaters are not necessarily competing with the same weapons.
I am pretty sure that Nam Nguyen who won gold that year, ahead of Nathan, would trade his junior success for Nathan's senior success

 

[lariko]

And that goes back to my endless attempts to give junior success more credit. The senior’s achievements are hugely overrated vs juniors. I don’t know why it is, but I hope one day it stops.

 

[lurkz2]

Nobody is saying that Nathan is less the champion he is because he didn't win junior worlds. I am not sure how you are reading my posts. Or maybe I am not reading yours correctly...

Someone pointed out that Boitano "only" won a junior bronze yet won O games... I said, Nathan did the same. Nothing against Nathan here. Figure skating fans knew about Nathan Chen even before he reached junior eligibility. Junior worlds is a funny animal... a year or two at such a young age can make a lot of difference, so skaters are not necessarily competing with the same weapons.
I am pretty sure that Nam Nguyen who won gold that year, ahead of Nathan, would trade his junior success for Nathan's senior success

I'm not accusing you of saying Nathan is less of a champion, just pointing out how there are other factors for junior success such as the importance put on junior worlds and how long a skater stays junior.

It's not just in figure skating, there are also other sports where athletes don't participate too much because they don't really value junior titles as much.

 

[4everchan]

And that goes back to my endless attempts to give junior success more credit. The senior’s achievements are hugely overrated vs juniors. I don’t know why it is, but I hope one day it stops.

I think the main point is that Senior titles include the most coveted prize in sport : the Olympic title and gold medal. The one that skaters train all their lives for perhaps the ONE time they will get to compete at the games, represent their country in a multi-sport event gathering thousands of athletes only once every 4 years..

It is just the reality of things. We do not even have to look too far to see how important it is for the athletes with all the drama the games brought this year...

When I mentioned Nam, it is exactly because he mentioned his priority was the Olympics. Nam won Junior worlds and has been as high as 5th at worlds... but though he competed in 5 senior world championships (qualified for 6, but one was canceled) he never represented his country at the Olympics. Nam was a young kid invited to skate at the Vancouver games in 2010... To me, it seems clear that after having a taste of the Olympic ice, as a guest, and having huge success at JWC, Nam had higher hopes... and in that sense, this is why I am saying that I am pretty sure that he would have traded his junior success for some more senior/olympic success (like Nathan's).
It doesn't mean that junior achievements are worthless.

 

[lariko]

I think the main point is that Senior titles include the most coveted prize in sport : the Olympic title and gold medal. The one that skaters train all their lives for perhaps the ONE time they will get to compete at the games, represent their country in a multi-sport event gathering thousands of athletes only once every 4 years..

It is just the reality of things. We do not even have to look too far to see how important it is for the athletes with all the drama the games brought this year...

When I mentioned Nam, it is exactly because he mentioned his priority was the Olympics. Nam won Junior worlds and has been as high as 5th at worlds... but though he competed in 5 senior world championships (qualified for 6, but one was canceled) he never represented his country at the Olympics. Nam was a young kid invited to skate at the Vancouver games in 2010... To me, it seems clear that after having a taste of the Olympic ice, as a guest, and having huge success at JWC, Nam had higher hopes... and in that sense, this is why I am saying that I am pretty sure that he would have traded his junior success for some more senior/olympic success (like Nathan's).
It doesn't mean that junior achievements are worthless.

I think Olympics should be cancelled. By now they are detrimental to sport.

 

[4everchan]

I think Olympics should be cancelled. By now they are detrimental to sport.

this is incorrect. Funding in many countries, depends on success of a sport and potential for Olympic medals. There were sports that were somewhat popular until they were nixed from the games and sports that were not popular at all in many countries, before they reached the olympic family. Remove figure skating from the Olympics, and Skate Canada no longer has much funding... and considering the cost of the sport, then bye bye to many elite athletes unless their parents have lots of cash to spare.

 

[lariko]

this is incorrect. Funding in many countries, depends on success of a sport and potential for Olympic medals. There were sports that were somewhat popular until they were nixed from the games and sports that were not popular at all in many countries, before they reached the olympic family. Remove figure skating from the Olympics, and Skate Canada no longer has much funding... and considering the cost of the sport, then bye bye to many elite athletes unless their parents have lots of cash to spare.

If you remove Olympics, then the sports that can get audiences for World Championships will get all the funding, so FS will win. If Olympics are cancelled, WCs will take their place, and normal seasons and WCs are way more compatible with modern binging culture than delayed gratification of OGs and a bunch of disappointment. Who the heck wants to wait 4 years for a promise of a rematch? People barely watch a fraction of OG sports, and the money that goes into it is stupid and the waste it creates is criminal for our resource starved world. Olympics should go.

 

[4everchan]

If you remove Olympics, then the sports that can get audiences for World Championships will get all the funding, so FS will win. If Olympics are cancelled, WCs will take their place, and normal seasons and WCs are way more compatible with modern binging culture than delayed gratification of OGs and a bunch of disappointment. Who the heck wants to wait 4 years for a promise of a rematch? People barely watch a fraction of OG sports, and the money that goes into it is stupid and the waste it creates is criminal for our resource starved world. Olympics should go.

FS will not win... it's quite the opposite... there are MANY FS fans who are once every four years fans... the GP circuit is just not attracting the fans, sponsors and TV, the way DIamond League does for Track and Field for instance. Of course, we disagree on this, and I am not going to try to convince you, but my opinion is clear : figure skating without the Olympics would be just even more of a niche sport. Fans who have followed ice dance for years will agree with this as there were talks at some point to nix ice dance.... and it was not fun... fans of Synchro will also tell you how detrimental it is for their sport not to be included in the games. YMMV

 

[lariko]

figure skating without the Olympics would be just even more of a nice sport.

Oh, no, no, apparently we are in a complete agreement. Lol, I know it’s a typo. Anyway, i want Olympics cancelled before it cancels the sport. They SUCKED.

 

[4everchan]

Oh, no, no, apparently we are in a complete agreement. Lol, I know it’s a typo. Anyway, i want Olympics cancelled before it cancels the sport. They SUCKED.

yeah.. nice try typo corrected above

I was an athlete in my youth... and the Olympic dream, though i was never close to it, fueled me... So, to me, though I agree there are a lot of problems with the IOC and the games, I hope a solution is found rather than canceling them.