The Wall Street Journal - 28.10.2019

A14| Monday, October 28, 2019 ***** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

A group of teenage girls have

turbocharged the sport officially

known as ladies skating, landing

quadruple jumps that were off-lim-

its for decades and in quantities

that are already up there with the

very top male skaters.

It’s either spectacular, or terrify-

ing. It’s definitely youth sports gone

mad.

Russian Alexandra Trusova

landed two quadruple toeloops and

a quadruple Lutz in her long pro-

gram at the Skate Canada Grand

Prix competition on Saturday, and

attempted a quadruple Salchow,

setting a ridiculous standard that’s

even more ridiculous for the fact

that others are so close on the 15-

year-old’s heels.

A week earlier Anna Shcherbak-

ova, also Russian and 15, had

thrown down two quadruple Lutzes

in her long program to take the

Skate America title. Fourth after a

bad short program, Shcherbakova

blew every other competitor out of

the arena when she deployed the

four-revolution jumps.

When Yuzuru Hanyu took his

second men’s skating Olympic title

last year with four quadruple jumps

in his long program, after getting

by in 2014 with two, the prolifera-

tion in men’s skating already

seemed wacky. At the time, female

skaters were maxed out at three-

revolution jumps; the hardest of

which, the triple Axel, required an

additional half revolution.

As the rest of the sports world

worries about too much specializ-

ing, too young, skating has defi-

nitely not got the memo. Two fe-

male skaters who’ve landed quads

in competition, 13-year-old Russian

Kamila Valieva and 14-year-old

American Alysa Liu, have had to do

it in junior ranks because they’re

not age-eligible for major events.

(The only other one to do it so far

is 19-year-old Elizabet Tursynbaeva,

who mastered the jump late but

happens to be 4-foot-8. None of the

skaters hits 5-foot-1.)

“At this point in ladies skating, it

seems almost more difficult to be-

come the junior world champion

than the world champion,” said

Johnny Weir, the NBC commentator.

Under the current rules, it’s also

the new normal, he said. “Until the

International Skating Union will say

you’re allowed to do one quad, and

you have to base the rest of your

performance on the rest of the

jumps and spins, I don’t think youth

is going anywhere. This is also a

sport.”

The jumps have their fans, who

see them as a kind of girl power.

“Women all over the world are say-

ing, we’re not second to men,” said

Tom Zakrajsek, a coach who has

taught many male skaters quads,

and worked last year with a Korean

girl, You Young, on a quadruple Sal-

chow.

But even he admits “it’s un-

charted territory.” There are de-

cades of data on male skaters who

acquire skills steadily as children,

ramping them up when they well

along in their adolescence. Nobody

knows how it will play out for girls

who are prepubescent now.

“Once they reach puberty and

their body changes...I don’t know,”

said Evelyn Kramer, a coach who

worked with Michelle Kwan on

spins in the run-up to the 1998

Olympics. “Nobody young has done

quads before.”

Some skeptics fear they already

know the answer: even for the win-

ners, the current model is unsus-

tainable and unhealthy, built on a

skater racing the clock and with the

likelihood that every year’s top per-

former will be replaced by another

skater the next.

“I think that it will be extremely

rare for a female skater to be able

to do multiple quadruple jumps

past puberty,” said Linda Leaver,

who coached 1988 Olympic cham-

pion Brian Boitano, who attempted

quadruple jumps in competition for

several years.

“I also think careers for men will

be shorter because of the stress on

backs, knees, and ankles, and the

body type will be more of a deter-

minate in who can dominate the

sport.”

Zakrajsek says it doesn’t have to

be that way. Better technique and

boots can reduce the wear and tear

that plagued earlier generations of

skaters. The Russians, he said, are

“wicked strong, like, so

strong...they’re not just lean. Their

bodies can handle this; it’s why

they’re doing it” with an eye to

having it down cold at the 2022

Olympic Games.

He’s also convinced that if skat-

ers learn a skill young they can

keep it into adulthood. “The point

is, it’s in your muscles, so as long as

you keep stimulating the pathway,

it stays,” he said.

Still, he warns, for skaters seek-

ing to emulate the Russians it will

require an even earlier commitment

to the sport in order to lock in tri-

ple jumps at 10 years old and then

move on to the years required to

master the timing and takeoff for

quads.

BYLOUISERADNOFSKY

The Year Figure Skating Got Crazy

Teenage girls are landing quadruple jumps that were once considered off-limits

STEVE HAAG/GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES
South Africa beat Wales 19-16.

England dug in on Saturday

with the kind of igneous physical-

ity that has always been New Zea-

land’s specialty. They came away

with a 19-7 win over the All Blacks.

Twenty-four hours later, in the

second semifinal, South Africa

confirmed that the lasting signa-

ture of this tournament would be

sheer power. With a defense al-

most as suffocating as England’s,

the Springboks scraped past

Wales, 19-16.

The two will now meet next

Sunday back in Yokohama in a re-

match of the 2007 final, won by

South Africa.

“They don’t play a sophisticated

game,” All Blacks head coach Steve

Hansen said of England. “Win the

ball, give it to a big bloke and run

hard. Win the collision and get

over the gain-line. That’s rugby in

its simplistic form, but it is beauti-

ful as well.”

Hansen may have undersold it.

While England didn’t design an

overly complex approach, doing the

simple things well took 2½ years of

preparation, according to England

coach Eddie Jones. Deciding to

overpower New Zealand, for most,

is like deciding to outrun a horse—

a fast way to eat a lot of mud.

“We are going to be tough,”

John Mitchell, the former New

Zealand coach now serving as Eng-

land’s defensive coach, said before

the game. “And we like being bru-

talaswell.”

To overcome Wales, South Af-

rica had to do the same. Despite

having just 39% possession and

pulling off just 67 passes to Wales’

115, the Springboks’ immovable de-

fense set them up to snatch the

game on the counter. The victory

might have been more comfortable

had a few sloppy moments not of-

fered up penalties to Wales.

As South Africa head coach

Rassie Erasmus put it after their

semifinal win, “I’m not 100% sure

that a World Cup final will be won

by a very expansive game plan and

wonderful tries.”

BYJOSHUAROBINSON

ANDALASTAIRGALE

The Final

Will Be

All About

Power

Alexandra Trusova landed two quad toeloops and a quad Lutz in her long program at the Skate Canada Grand Prix.

TODD KOROL/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Weather

Shown are today’s noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.

City Hi LoW Hi LoW City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W

Today Tomorrow Today Tomorrow

City Hi LoW Hi LoW

Anchorage 53 43 r 48 43 sh

Atlanta 76 62 pc 72 66 c

Austin 82 62 s 74 62 t

Baltimore 70 54 s 68 52 c

Boise 46 21 pc 38 15 s

Boston 59 53 c 60 56 c

Burlington 61 50 pc 60 51 c

Charlotte 77 60 pc 74 63 c

Chicago 50 36 sh 44 35 r

Cleveland 66 49 s 68 50 c

Dallas 72 46 pc 56 47 t

Denver 30 14 sn 26 8 sn

Detroit 60 48 s 60 42 pc

Honolulu 88 73 pc 87 73 s

Houston 81 65 pc 79 69 t

Indianapolis 65 49 s 59 43 c

Kansas City 43 27 c 43 32 c

Las Vegas 60 38 s 67 39 s

Little Rock 70 53 pc 67 53 sh

Los Angeles 76 52 s 70 51 s

Miami 90 80 pc 89 79 c

Milwaukee 48 32 sh 43 31 pc

Minneapolis 40 24 pc 44 22 pc

Nashville 71 51 s 74 57 pc

New Orleans 75 66 pc 75 71 t

New York City 66 55 pc 63 56 sh

Oklahoma City 54 31 pc 44 33 c

Omaha 41 23 sn 43 28 c

Orlando 90 74 pc 89 74 c

Philadelphia 69 52 s 65 53 c

Phoenix 74 48 s 74 48 s

Pittsburgh 65 50 s 70 50 pc

Portland, Maine 54 47 c 56 50 c

Portland, Ore. 56 31 s 47 30 s

Sacramento 71 36 s 70 39 s

St. Louis 62 40 pc 48 40 c

Salt Lake City 43 31 s 32 14 pc

San Francisco 69 48 s 69 48 s

Santa Fe 50 20 c 57 26 s

Seattle 53 33 s 48 31 s

Sioux Falls 38 18 pc 42 20 c

Wash., D.C. 70 55 s 69 54 pc

Amsterdam 53 38 pc 53 35 pc

Athens 76 59 s 75 60 s

Baghdad 84 62 s 84 62 s

Bangkok 94 77 t 94 77 c

Beijing 60 35 s 63 38 s

Berlin 52 37 pc 48 31 pc

Brussels 54 38 pc 52 34 pc

Buenos Aires 74 59 pc 70 61 pc

Dubai 98 80 s 100 80 s

Dublin 49 42 pc 49 45 pc

Edinburgh 47 33 pc 48 34 pc

Frankfurt 52 38 c 51 34 pc

Geneva 61 52 c 58 45 sh

Havana 91 72 pc 89 72 pc

Hong Kong 85 70 pc 83 72 s

Istanbul 70 55 pc 68 55 pc

Jakarta 92 76 t 92 76 pc

Jerusalem 70 59 pc 67 57 pc

Johannesburg 91 48 s 79 52 s

London 52 42 pc 54 41 pc

Madrid 71 49 pc 71 50 pc

Manila 91 78 t 89 79 c

Melbourne 72 52 pc 82 56 s

Mexico City 72 57 t 73 56 t

Milan 68 57 pc 67 50 sh

Moscow 45 33 pc 40 27 c

Mumbai 90 78 pc 90 79 t

Paris 53 43 c 54 38 pc

Rio de Janeiro 93 77 t 92 77 t

Riyadh 99 71 s 98 72 s

Rome 73 54 s 74 57 pc

San Juan 87 76 c 87 78 pc

Seoul 65 48 r 62 43 s

Shanghai 71 54 pc 72 55 s

Singapore 88 78 t 88 78 t

Sydney 72 58 s 78 60 c

Taipei City 85 71 t 75 70 c

Tokyo 6658pc 6360r

Toronto 60 44 s 63 43 pc

Vancouver 50 34 s 47 33 s

Warsaw 5239pc 4730pc

Zurich 54 43 sh 46 39 sh

Today Tomorrow

U.S. Forecasts

International

City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W

s...sunny; pc... partly cloudy; c...cloudy; sh...showers;

t...t’storms; r...rain; sf...snow flurries; sn...snow; i...ice

Today Tomorrow

Warm

Cold

Stationary

Showers

Rain

T-storms

Snow

Flurries

Ice

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Jacksonville

Little Rock

Charlotte

Louisville

Pittsburgh

New York

Salt Lake City

Tampa

Nashville

Memphis

Detroit

Kansas

City

El Paso Dallas

Billings

Portland

Miami

San Francisco

Sacramento

Orlando

Atlanta

New Orleans

Houston

San Diego Phoenix

Los Angeles

Las

Vegas

Seattle

Boise

Denver

Mpls./St. Paul

St. Louis

Chicago

Washington D.C.

Boston

Charleston

Milwaukee Hartford

Wichita

Indianapolis

Cleveland

Buffalo

Austin

Helena

Bismarck

Albuquerque

Omaha

Oklahoma City

San Antonio

Des Moines

Sioux Falls

JacksonBirmingham

Reno Cheyenne Philadelphia

Santa Fe

Colorado

Springs

Pierre

Richmond

Raleigh

Tucson

Albany

Topeka

Columbia

Augusta

Ft. Worth

Eugene

Springfield

Mobile

Toronto

Ottawa

Montreal

Winnipeg

Vancouver Calgary

Edmonton

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SEEING DINGS| By Gary Cee

Across

1 Motion picture

prize

6 Culinary pros

11 Four-star officer:

Abbr.

14 Bit of snow

15 Writer of fables

16 Sailor’s assent

17 Break-in

19 Doc for

dachshunds

20 Exacta or

trifecta

21 Two, in Tijuana

22 Famous advice

for a young

man

24 Gets older

26 Spade, for one

29 Laughable

31 Singer Orbison

32 “Of course!”

33 Follows as a

result

35 Big butte

38 Danson of “The

Good Place”

39 Scratch the

surface, and

what both

words in 17-,

26-, 55- and

65-Across

literally do

42 “Able was I ___

I saw Elba”

45 Sacred song

46 Type of bomb or

clock

50 Pop’s mom

52 Fish market need

54 New car

attraction

55 Characters

on-screen but

unseen

59 East Indies

tourist

destination

60 Country north of

Namibia

61 Brewed beverage

63 [That’s no typo]

64 Org. for

Grizzlies and

Timberwolves

65 Midas’s gift

69 Finish of many

a URL

70 Love, in Lyon

71 “Tidying Up With

___ Kondo”

(decluttering

show)

72 Lamb’s mother

73 Become edible,

as fruit

74 Cancels a

proofreading

mark

TheWSJDailyCrossword|Edited by Mike Shenk

12345 678910 111213

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31 32

33 34 35 36 37 38

39 40 41

42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49

50 51 52 53 54

55 56 57 58 59

60 61 62 63

64 65 66 67 68

69 70 71

72 73 74

s

Solve this puzzle online and discuss it atWSJ.com/Puzzles.

Down

1 Mistaken

2 Spirit in a fizz

3 Price-fixing

coalitions

4 Org. that

presents the

Awards for

Canine

Excellence

5 Clarinetist’s need

6 Hail fellow?

7 Chick’s mother

8 Superlative suffix

9 Blacksmith’s

workplace

10 Watch from

concealment

11 Became

depleted

12 Blight on the

landscape

13 Irritated

18 Dachshund, for

one

23 Oz. and lb.

25 Impoverished

area

27 Love affair

28 Eliminated a gray

area, in a way

30 “Uh-huh!”

34 Stars’ setting

36 Starfish’s

setting

37 Industrious

insects

40 Send out

41 Mummy

chamber

42 Add value to

43 Pride flag’s

inspiration

44 Lead-in to a

mate, perhaps

47 Size up

48 Against the law

49 Timeworn

phrases

51 Hubbub

53 Nonresident

doctor

56 “Pomp and

Circumstance”

composer

57 Watts of “The

Impossible”

58 Hamilton’s bill

62 Scratch pads?

66 Hack off

67 Expected

68 Grain in granola

Previous Puzzle’s Solution

I NKS SCALE ONO

SEEK QATAR BRAN

REVOLUT ION R I I S

REACT BUGLE

STP HRH FLUT I ST

LARVAE ARI SEN

I HEAR SMASH AMC

NODS DUBYA STAR

KE I LOPES PAINE

COOPER WAGONS

CHAPTER EEL NYT

LIMIT ISAAC

ADEN BANKRUPTCY

RENE THREE ASHE

OFT WHI RR SK I S

The contest answer is IN TWO. You can make a

synonym for each theme answer by taking a

different answer (of the length given in the clue)

plus a number: a REVOLUTION is a THREE-60,

DUBYA is known as BUSH 43, BANKRUPTCY is

CHAPTER 11, ORIGINATION is SQUARE 1 and a

PREDICAMENT is a CATCH-22. Those five

numbered squares in the grid, in numerical order,

spell the contest answer.

SPORTS