Nothing gives away a neophyte among fans in figure skating like the phrase "Look, she's only 15, and she's already jumping a quad!"
I already wrote about this a few years ago, but the situation repeats itself again and again. Let me remind those who are far from all this - figure skaters have a special moment in their development, what is called sweet spot in the English-speaking world. This is the age when their physical conditions already allow them to push off well, but puberty has not yet come, and the body still remains childish - light and compact. The effect is stronger if the girl is small.
Most girls' bodies begin to change at the age of 13-15 - they gain weight, their forms change, a hormonal shift occurs, which affects psychology, among other things. For many skaters, their careers end there, they never move into adult sports. But it happens that puberty comes later - during this period, 15-16, less often 17 years, they, as figure skaters, reach the peak of their form. At this point, if they are well prepared, they can jump and three quad jumps per performance. Then, of course, nature will take its course, and at 18 this same girl will not be able to jump fours at all. That is, this achievement is temporary.
Eteri Tutberidze, of course, is an outstanding coach, but still the essence of her approach is to find girls like this, train them as much as possible for a specific age, and then, when the figure begins to change, throw them in the trash. In the language of figure skating, it sounds like "moved to another coach." And what else can they do if they don't know how to do anything else and at the age of 18 they remain on the sidelines?
The first in this row was Yulia Lipnitskaya. Yes, how lucky - the peak of her form came at the Olympic Games in Sochi, where she became a champion in team competitions. Lipnitskaya was 15 at the time, and the domestic media were just going crazy in search of epithets that could express their delight. The most commonly used was "genius" in all sorts of variations.
Now Yulia is 23 and not even everyone remembers her anymore.
Do you know what happened to her after the Olympics? If not, I'll tell you. Lipnitskaya began puberty, she gained weight, the proportions changed. Against this background, a conflict developed with Tutberidze, and she left Urmanov. But she could no longer reach her former form. This led to a nervous breakdown, depression and an attempt to lose weight at all costs. As a consequence - anorexia, from which she was treated for three months in a clinic in Europe. After that, she decided to end her career. At that time she was 19 years old.
After Lipnitskaya there was Medvedeva, then Zagitova. Both were also ranked as "geniuses", both have also completed their careers. Zagitova, if anything, is now 19 years old. Then it was the turn of the "brilliant" Trusova and Shcherbakova. At the age of 17, they continue to perform, but the status of the main genius has already passed to Valieva. However, not for long - in six months Sofia Akatieva will turn 14, she will be allowed (apparently) to the Russian Championship and this fairy tale will begin anew.
As you can see, the "geniuses" on the pedestal are replaced with kaleidoscopic speed. These are literally caliphs for an hour. The term of your radiance is two years. If the Olympics fell on them, consider yourself lucky. Records of the past in terms of the number of victories (Slutskaya won the European Championship 7 times, Sonya Heni and Katarina Witt - six each) are now impossible. Everything rested only on the quads. As long as you can jump them, someone is interested in you.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Down there, under the stars burning down in an instant, there are dozens of girls who will never get their chance, because they did not have time to reach the necessary level before puberty. No one cares about their fate at all. But there are many among them who could shine much brighter if they were given time.
In addition to an understandable ethical problem, this whole pipeline provokes a more serious thing, close to a crime. Coaches of young figure skaters are very tempted to expand this sweet spot in order to get more time to prepare. This can be done in two ways - by accelerating muscle building in the "girlish" age and postponing the onset of puberty. Unfortunately, modern pharmacology is able to "help" in both cases.
I won't blame anyone, but it's obvious that sooner or later this gun will go off. Actually, accusations of this have already been heard, but scandals were hushed up. Although it doesn't make much sense for Tutberidze specifically - it's still easier for her to change girls like gloves, sending the maturing ones to the landfill of figure skating history.
But in my opinion, this system is deeply flawed and it is necessary to send it to the landfill. In the summer, the issue of raising the age limit for figure skaters up to 17 years will be discussed. In my opinion, we need to go even further, and prohibit participation in adult competitions under 18. So that adult women compete with each other, and no one had an incentive to ruin their lives. That's when we will see real, not momentary, geniuses, then real legends will appear, which are not there now. That's only then it will become clear, who has the technique and artistry, and who just has puberty delayed. (с)
BTW, you too @AlexanderPK! 
