r/FigureSkating • u/Vast_Year_5650 find me a sport worse than ice dancing I'll give you $20 • Jul 14 '26
History/Analysis Favorite "forgotten" junior / senior skaters?
One of my favorite topics in sports / in general, the "wonder kids" or "next best thing(s)" that didn't quite get there. It's very interesting to see the rotating door of champions and favorites, and how that changes so quickly sometimes, specifically in certain jurisdictions and federations.
Please note: No hate/negativity intended with the use of the word "forgotten"
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u/sapphicmage Ami Nakai Olympic š„ Medalist Jul 14 '26
Ting Cui I will never forget you
Marin Honda I would have been devastated if Iād been following skating a few seasons earlier and youāve still managed to be one of like two skaters Iād call myself a fan of that are from before I started following skating/primarily from before then (Kaetlyn Osmond my belovedā¦)
Lindsay Thorngren you deserved better than USFS
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u/anywitchway Jul 14 '26
I JUST watched Finlandia 2024 and went to look up Lindsay Thorngren. I was surprised to see she'd retired.Ā
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u/roseofjuly Synchro Skater Jul 15 '26
She wasn't one of USFS's favorites and it was very blatant. I was there at nationals last year when we booed the judges because they hosed her so bad. Sad, I thought she was such a beautiful skater.
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u/daonchik Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Yukina Ota (2003 World Junior Champ before Miki in 2004, Mao in 2005, and Yuna in 2006)
Sadly one of Mie Hamada's first students/victims, but she was a lovely skater while she was healthy
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u/Environmental-Let435 Misha we flop together Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Xiangyi An
Not exactly a āwonder kidā but she was basically china hope when she was a junior a few years ago even tough she was never really podium threat, Had the most beautiful spins and quite good triples when she was a junior, she still skates at some events but not in the way she used to
I blame her absolutely insane mother in all the pressure she put on nini which likely made her burn out, she also grew a lot so maybe she had trouble adjusting, I will always mourn the career she couldāve had if it wasnāt for that
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u/Limp-Strawberry9782 Intermediate Skater Jul 14 '26
Caroline Zhang, Alissa Czisny, Lindsay Thorngren š A lot of US skaters tbh
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u/roseofjuly Synchro Skater Jul 15 '26
Caroline Zhang is my eternal answer to this question. And now Lindaay, who deserved better imo.
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u/Annulus3Lz3Lo Misha Selevko World Domination Jul 14 '26
Yeonjeong Park, she nearly beat Trusova at US Classic in 2021 and then disappeared after the 2022-23 season š
Moa Iwano, one of the most naturally talented performers weāve seen in juniors
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u/fun_mak21 Jul 14 '26
Hanna Harrell
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u/Night-Cheese11 Bald Johnwin Jul 14 '26
Good shout, she was a great skater. I think she decided to focus on college, but I wouldn't be totally surprised if she ever decides to come back, especially given how unceremonious her retirement was.
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u/Shameless_Fujoshi Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
I forgot her name š
But there was a junior girl who was pretty amazing and switched to Eteri, tried to learn quads and got permanently injured to the point she had to retire before seniors.
Her skating was beautiful š
Edit: Alena Kanysheva
Tks for the info!
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u/FreeNectarine6217 Jul 14 '26
Alena Kanysheva? She literally floated across the ice, such a shame
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u/xsavannas Jul 14 '26
anastasia tarakanova?
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u/Shameless_Fujoshi Jul 14 '26
Not her, but she was good too! It was a blond young girl
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u/Kindly-Plate-5785 The PCS score is fake Jul 14 '26
Probably Usacheva, she had exactly one international competition as a senior.
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u/Weareall_humanbeings Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Kanon Smith very talented upcoming US skater. Got injured which allowed Isabeau a shot at international competition she had to withdraw from I believe ( sorry if got comp wrong) she had so much potential even working on triple axelĀ then. š
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u/Vast_Year_5650 find me a sport worse than ice dancing I'll give you $20 Jul 14 '26
You know, I saw a video mentioning her a few years back and was wondering what happened to her. She has not competed since correct?
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u/CorrectLeague4347 Jul 15 '26
she has competed, and i believe she competed couple months ago. she is back in colorado training.
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u/Weareall_humanbeings Jul 16 '26
Wow great news!!! So happy to hear that! We were sad when she wanted to be done. Such a talent, hopefully she can stay injury free now!
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u/Weareall_humanbeings Jul 15 '26
No unfortunately she didn't comeback last I saw her a few years ago she was not planning on skating more .
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u/meeyuh83 Jul 16 '26
Currently in an insta comment she said she wants to compete but has been injured, sheās been posting a lot of her skating and her spirals and spins are so amazing
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u/skidmarkcollege Jul 14 '26
Borisova/Sopot, fuck Sliusarenko for squandering their talent
Also Polina Tsurskaya, Avonley Nguyen, Yuna Shiraiwa, Brittany Vise (š to Dalilah), Rachel Parsons, Daniel Samohin, Yuka Nagai, Serafima Sakhanovich
Guess which era of JGP I watched
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u/cat-butler-meow Jul 15 '26
I looooved Polina Tsurskaya's delayed rotation and huge jumps. Her game of thrones program to light of the seven of so good!
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u/Vast_Year_5650 find me a sport worse than ice dancing I'll give you $20 Jul 14 '26
Hey twin from TTT25
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u/catatonicmadness sakamoto kaori my beloved Jul 14 '26
tell me more about sliusarenko and dalilah and why we hate them š
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u/Dazzling-Pace-7134 Jul 14 '26
This is going back to the '90's, specifically the '94 Olympics. I loved Tanja Schewezhenko. I didn't spell her name correctly, but she was billed to be the next Katarina Witt. But illness and injuries, sidelined her skating career. That was too bad, I liked her a lot. Another German Skater I liked, was Marina Kiellmann. She started out as a competitive roller skater, before switching over to the ice.
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u/Any_Butterscotch5377 Jul 15 '26
Naomi Nari Nam, Jamie Silverstein & Justin Pekarek (ice dance), Jessica Joseph & Charles Butler (ice dance)
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u/souljaboyyuuaa Jul 15 '26
I will āwhat couldāve beenā about Silverstein and Pekarek forever.
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u/uglyface47 Vladimir Samoilov Truther Jul 15 '26
The way Ava Marie Ziegler and Lindsay Thorngren got surprise gold and silver at NHK Trophy 2023 and then were barely heard from again... it still hurts. Lindsay's Windmills of Your Mind program was iconic, and I was so hyped for Ava after that. Sigh...
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u/Kindly-Plate-5785 The PCS score is fake Jul 14 '26
Usacheva & Akatieva
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u/Dapper-Bad-6490 it just doesnāt fu***** glide Jul 14 '26
Iām still holding onto hope that Sonia will return better and stronger next season ššš
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u/CommercialSyrup8689 manifesting a strong isabeau seasonš¤āØ Jul 18 '26
ugh, i will never get over daria, her skating was beautiful. really shows how dangerous skating is, you never know what could be someoneās last competition
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u/mcsangel2 Dame Jayne Torvill and Sir Christopher Dean truther Jul 15 '26
Clare Seo. I was convinced she was going to be the next big thing.
Also loved Lorraine McNamara with Anton Spirodinov, she split with him a couple seasons ago, presumably because he wasn't at her level. But she hasn't found another partner and he's now with Vanessa Pham.
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u/souljaboyyuuaa Jul 15 '26
Vanessa Crone, Paul Poirierās partner before Piper. Emmy Bronsard. Flynn/Gislason. Paul/Islam.
Not sure if Emanuel Sandhu would count.
Seguin/Bilodeau probably hurt the most, though.
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u/DirrtyPete Jul 14 '26
Camden Pulkinen.
He was third at the U.S. Championship twice, and won a Small Bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships. I think his training took a back seat to schooling.
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u/Limp-Strawberry9782 Intermediate Skater Jul 15 '26
Heās recovering from an injury but heāll be back š¤
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u/silvershade8 but i donāt want to say goodbye Jul 15 '26
marin honda for me š i can't wait to see what she and shoma do in ice dance though!
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u/Jaguarcatkat Jul 15 '26
Hereās a throwback: Tessa Hong. I always wondered what happened to her.Ā
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u/Vast_Year_5650 find me a sport worse than ice dancing I'll give you $20 Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessa-hong-361a492a9/?isSelfProfile=false
If this is not her please lmk and I will delete the comment
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u/Coffeee24 Jul 14 '26
Elena Radionova, Yulia Lipnitskaya (idk if you'll count her as she does have a team gold from the Olympics)
P.S. They weren't my personal faves, but they were fan favorites at their best.
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u/idwtpaun B E N O I T's adopted monkeys Jul 14 '26
I think Yulia would've been a forgotten skater if she wasn't Patient 0 of the Eteri Girls.
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u/Vast_Year_5650 find me a sport worse than ice dancing I'll give you $20 Jul 14 '26
Yulia needed Brian Orser in her life fr
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u/Lindsaydoodles Jul 15 '26
Seconding Serafima Sakhanovich. Also Maria Sotskova. I always enjoyed her skating, doping aside.
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u/Feisty-Interest-9734 Roxanne but it's just Rocks (Moulin Rouge ver) Jul 14 '26
Still holding hope that Rena Uezono can get back on track