Kaetlyn Osmond - Canada's hope

[AJ Skatefan]

My post was a little obnoxious and didn't offer much new.

Ya think?

[Corianna]

I can't resist, much as I should, from pointing out that hoping for KO to place in the top five or six, is only as forlorn as hoping that Kevin Reynolds would win the FCC .

[clarie]

I can't resist, much as I should, from pointing out that hoping for KO to place in the top five or six, is only as forlorn as hoping that Kevin Reynolds would win the FCC .

Ya never know.......much stranger things have happened

[Corianna]

We should probably be a little gracious re: Maggie's apology.

[Rock2]

I wouldn't be nervous if I were her. If she only qualifies 1 spot for Canadian ladies for Sochi, that spot most likely will be hers anyway. It should be Lacoste that should be nervous for Osmond at Worlds.

No, Daleman and Chartrand should be nervous. The ship has sailed for Amelie. She should be thankful that she skated in an era where 3 clean triples gets you a national medal. Inevitable that the world would pass you by. Happy she'll be leaving skating with a national title and a few trips to worlds.

[dinakt]

Osmond is terrific. Great jumps, difficulty of in- betweens, presentation, joy of skating- everything one wants to see in an up- and - comer. The four "hopefuls" - Osmond, Gold, Tuktamysheva and Sotnikova- are expected to have a steep learning curve; too much so, in my opinion. They are great talents, and more consistent than not. Looking forward to seeing Osmond at Worlds, and wishing her years of success.

[rhymer]

As a Canadian I just want to add my two cents. Osmond is a great skater and the first skater (with the exception of Rochette) that gives me hope for Canadian ladies since I started following skating 20 years ago, BUT as soon as she won Nationals all the hype that was built up, and going on and on about her makes me nervous. Everytime there is a skater with talent they seem to get suffocated by commentators, media and fans. I wish people would back off a bit and give rising talent the opportunity to rise instead of assuming they are going to rocket to the top. That way when they don't rocket to the top they aren't turned into failures or let downs. It just brings back memories of Jennifer Robinson at Worlds ('96 I think) being interviewed by Rod Black then while she is standing right beside him he turns to the camera and says "We will be right back with so-n-so discussing the state of Canadian ladies figure skating. I felt so bad for her, but she handled it gracefully. I would have said things that would have gotten me in trouble then walked off. It was like she went from Junior to being expected to be a top tier senior. I always felt that the way she was pressured in the earlier part of her career held her back because she got more criticism than constructive support. I just hope that doesn't happen to the new Canadian ladies.
My advice is to sit back cheer for all of them, celebrate achievements and victories and back off and let them figure out and learn from difficulties.

I hope no one takes offence by what I said/feel I just worry for some of these young skaters that it almost seems forgotten that they are human, have emotions and feel pressure.

[manhn]

Who in the world expected Jennifer Robinson to be a top tiered skater in 1996? If FSU existed, there would've been a long ass thread named "NO WAY WOULD JENNIFER FRIGGIN ROBINSON GET PCS SCORES LIKE JEREMY ABBOTT--JOSEE SHOULD GO TO EDMONTON!!!!"

[PeterG]

Who in the world expected Jennifer Robinson to be a top tiered skater in 1996? If FSU existed, there would've been a long ass thread named "NO WAY WOULD JENNIFER FRIGGIN ROBINSON GET PCS SCORES LIKE JEREMY ABBOTT--JOSEE SHOULD GO TO EDMONTON!!!!"

You youngsters don't know your history.

[professordeb]

You youngsters don't know your history.

Oh Peter, you've done it again

[Jenny81]

As a Canadian I just want to add my two cents. Osmond is a great skater and the first skater (with the exception of Rochette) that gives me hope for Canadian ladies since I started following skating 20 years ago, BUT as soon as she won Nationals all the hype that was built up, and going on and on about her makes me nervous. Everytime there is a skater with talent they seem to get suffocated by commentators, media and fans. I wish people would back off a bit and give rising talent the opportunity to rise instead of assuming they are going to rocket to the top. That way when they don't rocket to the top they aren't turned into failures or let downs. It just brings back memories of Jennifer Robinson at Worlds ('96 I think) being interviewed by Rod Black then while she is standing right beside him he turns to the camera and says "We will be right back with so-n-so discussing the state of Canadian ladies figure skating. I felt so bad for her, but she handled it gracefully. I would have said things that would have gotten me in trouble then walked off. It was like she went from Junior to being expected to be a top tier senior. I always felt that the way she was pressured in the earlier part of her career held her back because she got more criticism than constructive support. I just hope that doesn't happen to the new Canadian ladies.

My advice is to sit back cheer for all of them, celebrate achievements and victories and back off and let them figure out and learn from difficulties.

I hope no one takes offence by what I said/feel I just worry for some of these young skaters that it almost seems forgotten that they are human, have emotions and feel pressure.

[Rock2]

As a Canadian I just want to add my two cents. Osmond is a great skater and the first skater (with the exception of Rochette) that gives me hope for Canadian ladies since I started following skating 20 years ago, BUT as soon as she won Nationals all the hype that was built up, and going on and on about her makes me nervous.

Are we confusing attention with hype? I feel like I'm trying to craft a definition in my head.
If a skater starts her senior career by winning her first two senior internationals and does so in a fashion that appears deserved and is crowd pleasing you simply cannot avoid attention because of it. No way to avoid lots of conversation...it's exciting. I don't see a lot of expectation by way of, say, a medal in London or Olympic gold, but rather, as others have pointed out, conversation about potential and maybe hope. No worries there.

Ravi and Slipper are doing their part to manage all of this. She's not doing tons of press nor is she making a lot of appearances. They have her focussed and they are keeping expectations of her very realistic by not pressuring her to get a top 10, by not changing/upgrading her programs and goals for the year. Steady as she goes. Still, she's an athlete and competitor so it's healthy to have goals. So the team talks about getting 170+ in each comp, qualifying for London and reaching top 10. Those are realistic stretch goals which she should always have.

So I think she's in a good place. Happy to hear your thoughts on what behaviors/conversations you'd like to see or not see. Like specifics. All I can tell you is that not talking about her is probably not a realistic expectation.

[clarie]

It appears she has a great team behind her with Ravi et al. and wonderful family support. They've done a terrific job so far (as has she) and there's no reason why it shouldn't continue with incremental goals set for her. She's won my support over with her big jumps and showmanship, and her delight in what she does so evident in her performances. I wish her the best of experiences at Worlds this year.

[jl22aries]

Are we confusing attention with hype? I feel like I'm trying to craft a definition in my head.
If a skater starts her senior career by winning her first two senior internationals and does so in a fashion that appears deserved and is crowd pleasing you simply cannot avoid attention because of it. No way to avoid lots of conversation...it's exciting. I don't see a lot of expectation by way of, say, a medal in London or Olympic gold, but rather, as others have pointed out, conversation about potential and maybe hope. No worries there.

...

This is a fantastic post. And I agree!

[rvi5]

Technically, hype is a deliberate strategy to promote something. I don't believe anyone set out with a plan to generate hype. Although there were the odd fan at GS who would become too enthusiastic, making unrealistic predictions. In many threads at that site, much of discussions/arguments were actually negative. Many people could not accept that Kaetlyn had defeated more experienced skaters at SCI. There was talk of home ice advantage, and accusations of Skate Canada conspiracies. Posters would tear apart Kaetlyn's skating in an attempt to make her appear inferior to the other skaters. Especially their favorites. Yet like a movie star with a scandal leaked to the media, in the end the overall attention (negative or not) boosted Kaetlyn's fame, rather than sink it. Ironically, you could say the negative posters helped draw more attention to Kaetlyn (although these posters would accuse Kaetlyn's fans of creating the hype). In the end, no one will remember who said what, but certainly everyone will remember Katelyn's name.

A word of warning...if at Worlds, Kaetlyn again outscores some of the favorites, I expect yet more arguments/attention to follow. There is no way you can stop it.

[TheIronLady]

People who said Skate Canada was bad judging are just as unrealistic as folks who said Kaetlyn is a top contender for Sochi. The truth is closer to something in between. My take is that Kaetlyn is a good competitor with promise to capitalize on more talented ladies' mistakes in the next several years. If she can become consistent with her jumps, she can probably compete with the best of them. I think there are big tests and challenges ahead.

[professordeb]

People who said Skate Canada was bad judging are just as unrealistic as folks who said Kaetlyn is a top contender for Sochi. The truth is closer to something in between. My take is that Kaetlyn is a good competitor with promise to capitalize on more talented ladies' mistakes in the next several years. If she can become consistent with her jumps, she can probably compete with the best of them. I think there are big tests and challenges ahead.

Well said and I think it reflects how most of us Kaetlyn fans feel about her. She's got the ingredients, now she just needs time to simmer.

[Rock2]

A word of warning...if at Worlds, Kaetlyn again outscores some of the favorites, I expect yet more arguments/attention to follow. There is no way you can stop it.

ITA. My hope is that she comes 8-10th in London. If she's 6th or higher there will be discussion of Olympic medals...which would be rough. Might happen anyway if she medals in both GPs in the fall.

[shine]

People who said Skate Canada was bad judging are just as unrealistic as folks who said Kaetlyn is a top contender for Sochi. The truth is closer to something in between. My take is that Kaetlyn is a good competitor with promise to capitalize on more talented ladies' mistakes in the next several years. If she can become consistent with her jumps, she can probably compete with the best of them. I think there are big tests and challenges ahead.

Don't worry, I'm sure she won't continue letting the less talented ladies capitalize on her mistakes like she did at 4CC

[clarie]

Article on Lance Vipond, Kaetlyn's Choreographer: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/201...-skaters-moves