Nothing gives a neofit among fans in figure skating like the phrase "Look, she's only 15, and she's already jumping four!"

I will remind those who are far from all this - the figurist has a special moment in their development, what in the English-speaking world is called sweet spot. This is the age when their physical condition already allows them to push well, but puberty has not yet arrived, and the body is still childish - light and compact. The effect is stronger if the girl is small.

In most girls, the body begins to change at 13-15 years of age - they gain weight, change shapes, there is a hormonal shift, affecting the body. And in psychology. For many caregivers, their careers end here, and they never go into adult sports. But it happens that puberty comes later - in this period, 15-16, less often than 17 years, they as figurants come to the peak of their shape. At this point, if they are well prepared, they can jump three quadrades (fourths) per performance. Then, of course, nature will take its own, and at 18, this same girl will not be able to jump four at all. This achievement is temporary.

Ethery Tutberidze, of course, is an outstanding coach, but the essence of her approach is to find such girls, to drag them as much as possible for a specific age, and then, when the figure begins to change - to throw them out for a wash. In the language of figure skating, it sounds like “passing to another coach.” What else can they do if they can’t do anything anymore. At the age of eighteen, are you still on the side?

The first was Yulia Lipnitskaya. And as a success - the peak of her shape came at the Olympics in Sochi, where she became a champion in team competitions. Lipnitskaya was then 15, and the domestic media just went crazy in search of epithetics capable of expressing their enthusiasm. The most usable was “genial” in all sorts of variations. It is July 23 and not everyone even remembers it anymore.

Do you know what happened after the Olympics? If not, I will tell you. Lipnitskaya began puberty, she gained weight, the proportions changed. On this background, a conflict developed with Tutberidze, and she left Urmanov. However, it could no longer reach its former form. This led to a nervous breakdown, depression and an attempt to lose weight at any cost. As a result - anorexia, from which she was treated for three months in a clinic in Europe. Then she decided to end her career. She was 19 years old at the time.

After Lipnitskaya was Medvedev, then Zagitova. Both were also classified as "geniuses", both have already completed their careers. If so, I am 19 years old. Then came the line of "genial" Trussova and Shcherbakova. At 17, they continue to perform, but the status of the main genius has already passed to Valyeva. However, for a short time - in six months, Sophie Akatyeva will be 14, she will be admitted (likely) to the PR and this fairy tale about the white bull will start again.

As you can see, the "genius" on the pedestals are replaced with kaleidoscopic speed. This is literally a caliph for an hour. The time of your light is two years. If you have Olympics, you are lucky. Records of the past in the number of victories (Slutskaya won the European Championship 7 times, Sonja Heny and Katarina Witt - six) are now impossible. It was all in quads. As long as you can jump them, you are interested in someone.

But this is only the top of the iceberg. Below, there, under the burning stars in an instant - dozens of girls who will never get their chance because they have not had time to get to the necessary level before puberty. Their fate does not care anyone at all. But many of them would have been more bright if they had given them time.

In addition to the understandable ethical problem, this entire conveyor is provoking something more serious, close to crime. Young bodybuilders’ coaches are very tempted to expand this sweet spot to get more time to prepare. This can be done in two ways - by accelerating muscle building in the "girl" age and postponing the onset of puberty. Unfortunately, modern pharmacology is able to "help" in both cases.

I’m not going to blame anyone, but it’s obvious that sooner or later this gun will shoot. In fact, the accusations in this already spread, but the scandals have gone. Although specifically for Tutberidze, this does not make much sense - it is easier for her to change girls, like gloves, sending the mature to the landfill of the history of figure skating.

But in my opinion, this system is deeply vicious and you need to send it to the landfill. In the summer, the issue of raising the age limit for figurists to 17 years will be discussed. In my opinion, we need to go even further, and prohibit participation in adult competitions until 18. For adult women to compete with each other, and no one had the incentive to ruin their lives. It is then that we will see real, not momentary, geniuses, then there will be real legends that do not exist now. Only then will it become clear who has the technique and artistic, and who has just puberty delayed.