Has Ilia hit his ceiling?
Some of the comments in recent posts here and on the main figure skating subreddit have had me thinking about Ilia's dominance this last season and whether that would continue.
There have been a few skaters mentioned as being possible threats to that dominance and good cases were made for the possibity, assuming the skaters named achieved the things mentioned - more quads with good consistency, improved step sequences and spins...the usual.
Except nobody in those comments seemed to be taking into consideration that Ilia would continue to improve and push himself as well. Adding a quint or two, perfecting his skating skills, working with talented choreographers like Randi Strong to improve his extensions, artistry and musicality even more in order to stay firmly on top.
Maybe they feel Ilia won't be able to improve. That he has seen his peak with this season, and his current skills are as good as they're ever going to get, no matter how hard he works to improve, and that's why others have a chance to catch up to or even surpass him.
Or perhaps I was misunderstanding and people only meant that Ilia won't be able to rest on his laurels and take it easy in order to stay ahead of these other men who are trying so hard to catch up to him.
What do you think? Has Ilia peaked, giving others a chance to at least narrow the gap, or will he continue to improve leaving everyone else still struggling to catch up to him? Or is there someone you think would be able to bridge the gap completely and be a true threat for the top of the podium within the next year or two even if Ilia continues to improve?