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Junior Skaters of 2018/19 season


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  • 2 weeks later...

I just want to say that I'm really glad that Artur Danielian will go to Jr Worlds after all, according to ISU site :tumblr_inline_ncmif5EcBB1rpglid:

And yay Jr Worlds next week! Can't watch most of it live, but it's gonna be fuuuun (also, the question is, if Sasha lands her quads, can she get (senior) world record? :party0029:)

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  • 2 weeks later...

So the season is done and Stephen Gogolev now looks forward to his second (and presumably last) season on the junior circuit.  He started out great by taking gold in his first JGP qualifier but then faltered in his second, ending in fifth.  He just missed making the JGP Final but was listed as first alternate.  Another skater dropped out and so Stephen was in and went and stole the show (as his exhibition song says) by becoming the youngest ever to win the JGP Final, eclipsing the record held by one Yuzuru Hanyu.  He shone at the senior level in the Canadian national championships and if he hadn't popped his first jump he would have gone gold.  He had to settle for silver, which isn't bad for a lad who had just turned fourteen and was skating against some individuals who were twice his age.  At worlds he was not able to live up to expectations and ended up in fifth.  Still, not bad.  Looking at his skating in Zagreb I did not see the sort of conviction he had earlier in the season.  In some ways I think it might be his having to go back to his junior level program after the far more challenging program he had at the Canadian championships.  In short, I think he was bored with it and it showed.

 

Next season, though, he will not be one of the crowd.  This current season was far more successful than most junior level male skaters might expect their first season of international competition.  The Stephen Gogolev achievements are now being widely touted and he is now being regarded as amongst the elite of the junior ranks.  When in the 2020/21 season he ascends (as expected) to the senior ranks you can be sure that he will be on every male competitor's radar.  Stephen will begin his senior level competition as a force to be reckoned with.  He will be facing a lot of pressure then and it's fortunate that he trains in the same facility as Yuzuru Hanyu does.  Yuzu can certainly provide Stephen advice on how to deal with such pressure although the pressure on Stephen will be qualitatively different from Yuzu's.  Yuzu is an iconic figure in Japan, far transcending his image as a figure skater.  Stephen will be simply an immensely talented figure skater who is Canada's best hope for golden glory in coming years.  Patrick Chan has already declared Stephen as his successor.  Those are big boots to fill but so far Stephen has shown the maturity to handle the situation.

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On 4/4/2019 at 2:41 AM, micaelis said:

  Patrick Chan has already declared Stephen as his successor.  Those are big boots to fill but so far Stephen has shown the maturity to handle the situation.

has he? I hope this won't add unnecessary pressure on Stephen, the "curse of canadian men missing gold at OWG" is already...heavy enough:tumblr_inline_mg16f1RxCn1qdlkyg:

(also that current canadian senior men struggle a lot with consistency and don't have reputation on Patrick's level, I'm not particularly fond of narrative having Stephen the One who'll save Canadian men, just like I'm not fond about Alyssa Liu being regarded already as the One who'll save US ladies...)

btw small correction, Stephen had harder layout at Canadian Nats only in the SP, the FS, where he had his major mistake at JWC (popped Lz), was the same (and he fell on first 3A and could add only a 2T on his second 3A, so lost a couple more points there too). Anyway, I think he has done a lot of good experience that will help him next season (plus achieved great result, given he was one of the youngest in the junior circuit). If there are no injuries or grotwh issues for him and Samsonov, these two are likely gonna fight quad vs quad, and if Petr stays in jr he's gonna be even more dangerous too, now he has incorporated quads. Also, I hope to see both Yuma and (finally!) Shun. Shun in particular, if he lands his quads, has the BV to challenge Stephen and Daniil (tho I don't expect judges to be ready to throw points at him as to Canadia and Russian boys). I think Kao Miura could be eligible too, but given that Shun still hasn't made an appearance in JGP despite being age eligible, I'm not holdng my breath for him (it would be awesome, tho, if we could see all eastern japan boys together:img_21:). I also wonder what are Daniel Grassrl's plans, because in theory he has the quads too and doing well in sr and jr comps this season might have given him some reputation (tho I hope to see him much more improved next season, and with a program I like, like his previous FS).

Overall, I'm pretty excited about next season jr Men's skating :tumblr_inline_n18qrbDQJn1qid2nw:

 

ladies field will feel very different without Sasha and Alyona (and Anna), I can't wait to see how new russian ladies look and who will bring which jumps (also, I wonder what will Nastya T do). Plus Kanysheva being now with Eteri...(I'm a bit sad, I enjoyed her programs under Panova). Also, curious about what will the judges do with Alyssa Liu on the scenes...

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