More on "acceptance"... I'll compare this to gymnastics, another judged sport with very young athletes. Up to the 1970s, US women seldom medaled internationally. Then Karolyi came to the US, with his training techniques and hard-driving attitude. US women began to medal frequently. The US was used to not medaling before, so maybe they were open to any new coaching style that would get them on the podium.
But skating...the US had decades of success under 6.0. They have never made the real mental switch to IJS and my theory is that's what's holding them back. US women/girls are willing to pound themselves and train many hours in gymnastics, and they get results. Is the same drive there in skating? Eteri-style drive? I'm not saying it's good to pound bodies, but it does earn medals.
The reality is, you can't win without at least one quad, unless you have a solid 3 axel, and 3Axel in combo, AND a skater with a quad falters. The points just aren't there. You have to have secure quads in place by age 15 or you'll age out - no post-pubescent woman can land quads consistently in competition. It's not just a US problem. No coach other than Eteri - not even any Russian coach - has skaters who have reached seniors with the ability to successfully land quads.
We may just be in the lull before more countries are able to create skaters who can land consistent quads by age 15-16. We may just need to accept that training involving many hours and intense competition from age 4-5, with the expectation of losing quads by the time they 'fill out,' is the new normal.
It's curious that gymnasts seem to have longer careers than quad-performing senior female skaters. Guess quads just are that difficult!
